Davy Crockett Bear Chase Marathon

This was my last marathon needed to complete the Texas Marathon Challenge, and boy was it a tough one. The course wasn't too bad, two pretty loops of mostly rolling hills with one section of steep incline on the dirt/sand road in the national forest. What got to me was the heat. Combine temperatures of 72 at the start and 86 at the finish with not enough solid training, and you've got the makings of a long race. I ran it all until about mile 18. That's when I started up the dirt road, looked at the continuous climb until the turn-around at mile 19.5, and decided to treat that stretch as an ultra - walk the uphills, run the downhills. While doing so, I came across another ultra runner doing the same thing. Since all we both wanted to do was finish (this was her third race to qualify for the Marathon Maniacs), we decided to just run/walk most of the rest of the way. I figured it was better to have someone to hang out with and talk to than trot along suffering in the blazing sun by myself.

I spent the first lap running behind and then with a group of women from a running club in the Groveton area. There were about 25 people from the club in the race, most of whom were doing the half. Two of the women in the pack near me were running their first half. They picked a very fun little race to make their debut, but the heat was definitely making them nervous. They quit talking at mile 10 and didn't say another word until after they crossed the finish line.

The race was one of the smallest I've ever been in. There were maybe 300 or 400 runners, and not many of them did the full. When I finish 82nd and in the top ten in my age group, it's safe to assume there weren't very many people entered. I know I was 82nd because that's the number on the bear I was given at the finish line. In addition to a really cool medal, each finisher get a stuffed bear with their place on it.

I'd definitely run this race again, but probably not the full. Running a marathon in the heat this early in the year just isn't fun. Besides, I've done the Texas Marathon Challenge once now. It's time to give something else a try next year. Maybe a return to Rocky?

Athena

Here's a picture of her taken this afternoon. I think she looks pretty good for a dog that just turned 14 two days ago.

Angie's Half Crazy Half Marathon

This post should really be titled "How Not to Train for a Half" since I spent the week before the race in Bermuda celebrating our fifth wedding anniversary by eating and drinking a lot and exercising very little. Getting in to the airport at 10pm the night before probably wasn't a great training tactic either. Truthfully, I hadn't really planned on running this race. I only decided to enter a few days before we left on vacation because I wanted to force myself to get some miles in before Davy Crockett next weekend.

This was one of the more interesting races I've ever run. It's organized by a woman named Angie who started it three years ago. Every year, she picks a different theme and a different charity for the race. This year, the theme was baseball and the charity was the local Little League. The shirts have a baseball look to them, the guest starter was a former Astros player, and the finisher's medal was designed to look like a baseball. Very well done all the way around. Next year's race is going to support local firefighters, and I'm interested to see what she does for that.

My race itself went very well given my lack of training and the heat and humidity that rolled in overnight. I finished in 2:10, not a bad time for me considering I was just out for a run and not trying to race. As the race went on, I certainly felt the extra pounds I gained in Bermuda. I felt very sluggish and lacked my normally strong finishing kick over the last two miles. Still, I accomplished what I wanted. I got some miles in and got myself back into the mental game for next weekend.