Austin half-marathon

What a great weekend. It started off kind of rocky, or should a say a little wet. Seems like it had been raining non-stop all last week. So I was looking forward to getting out of town and do some riding outdoors, but Saturdays weather forecast was not looking good. So I bit the bullet and hit the trainer Saturday morning, and then took off for Austin. After checking in at the Austin Marathon expo I went over to ATC where I learned that I had a time to beat. Adam had laid down a solid 1:21 at the 3M half-marathon. So I knew the time I had to beat. The shop also had a great marathon sale going on and a shiny black Cervelo R3 happen to catch my eye. After I sold my first ever bike (a Fuji), I had been looking for a new road bike to replace it, and this was that bike. Before I knew it, Adam had already fit me on it and after a short test ride on the trainer, I was hooked.

The next day the weather was ideal running weather. With over 15,000 runners, we took to the streets of Austin for the race. I went into this race with no expectations (except to beat Adam's time), and was interested to see how my body had adapted to the last 6 weeks of training. The first 3 miles are slightly downhill and when I looked at my watch, I was holding 5:30s. Yikes! That was fast, too fast, and I knew I would pay the price later. But I let it ride and wanted to see how long it would last. Well, it lasted to mile six, then I slowed to 5:40s where I stayed for the next 3 miles, and that was downhill. So when the hills picked back up around mile 9 I was toast. Slowed down a bit more, but was still able to hold and put down a 1:16 for the half (5:52/mile). This was a 2 minute PR from the last time I raced here, and I had tapered for the race then as well. So, I was happy with this time. Now I just need to be able to hold this after a swim and bike. I've got the Woodlands half in 2 weeks and 2 big training weeks coming up, so I'm interested to see if I can improve this time on a faster course. Afterwards I celebrated by going for a swim in Barton Springs and then had the best Migas and Magnum ever at the TX Chili Parlor, which is a Glauser/Sherwood favorite. Thank you for letting me crash with you and for the meal. Oh, and the cookies, I forgot to mention this, but my pre-race meal was coffee, oatmeal and a large chocolate chip cookie. I may have to do this before a triathlon b/c it seems to work.