New PR! -- Mardi Gras Beach Run Race Report

The clock time was 58:40! My watch was 58:29.78! (Official results haven't been posted online yet, as of 1 p.m. Saturday.) Under an hour at the 10K distance for the first time ever!

The conditions were much the same as last year when the event -- the Mardi Gras Beach Run --was on Valentine's Day Saturday morning and I posted a 1:04:19.6! It was in the lower-to-mid 40s with some wind that was coming off of the Gulf of Mexico. (Those of you familiar with Galveston, we started at Stewart Beach right by Brodie's Beach Hut.)

Other than slipping under an hour, this scored -- using something similar to an age-grading system that I use from the Plano Pacers site -- as my best run ever to date!

I had great (and unexpected) help though. A co-worker and friend of Power In Motion (PIM) Fitness coach Megan Clark-Dillingham, Laura Babcock, also a fellow Houston Strider, had passed me somewhere in the beginning of mile 3. I remembered that she did the swimming portion of the half ironman relay that Megan had participated in back in October in Conroe.

After the turnaround at mile 2.5, I figured that it was definitely her and worked to catch up with her near the mile 3 mark. At that point, I was at 29:20.80 (the exact pace I needed to slip under an hour). The first three miles were 9:42.30, 9:36.30 and 10:02.20 (which included the water stop and my typical slide in mile 3).

But, running with Laura, mile 4 was 8:55.59 and mile 5 was 9:16.26, which I knew gave me enough cushion to almost guarantee (short of a face plant) an under one hour finish.

At about mile 5 and a half, Laura broke free a little bit and probably on any other day, I might have taken a quick walk break; however, I sucked it up and churned off the last 1.2 miles in 10:57.13 (which equated to a 9:02 pace)!

I didn't even say, "Hi, Karen!," to race photographer (and friend) Karen Thibodeaux heading down the stretch since I wanted to ensure that I cracked an hour on the clock!

More later! (Off to go shower and head to our church to referee some Upward Basketball games!)

Houston Running Message Board Up!

Initially, there are eight (8) categories to post under the message board. Click here to access it.

Those categories are as follows:

HARRA Spring Series Races
HARRA Fall Series Races
Houston Area Race Reports

HEB Texas 10K Challenge
Texas Marathon Challenge
Love the Half (Marathon) Challenge
Texas Marathons / Race Reports
Out of State Marathons / Race Reports

Statewide Newspaper Running Columns

Running Notebook: New event hits the beach -- Surfside to host marathon, half marathon on sand
Roberta MacInnis, Houston Chronicle, Thursday, 1/27/05

Column is about the first year Surfside Beach Marathon and Half Marathon on February 12th staged by the Brazosport Road Runners Association.

Recreation Insider: Cowtown is giving runners half option
Tracey Myers, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Wednesday, 1/26/05

Just a note regarding the first year half marathon at Cowtown in February, a local 5K and noting a new marathon association that promotes distance running to black adults.

Austin Running: Be realistic when predicting your marathon time
Brom Hoban, Austin American-Statesman, Tuesday, 1/25/05

Good article talking about the various methods in the running world to predict a marathon including the Yasso 880-meter repeats and the "double your half and add 10 minutes."

Running with Moe: RunTex 30K was a challenge for runners
Moe Johnson, San Marcos Daily Record, Sunday, 1/23/05

Column celebrates the accomplishments of San Marcos, Buda and Kyle area runners in the 18.6-mile event that was held in Austin the weekend prior. (Moe Johnson puts on the Moe's Better Half Marathon in San Marcos in March.)

Running 100 Miles Never Hurt So Good
Debbie Fetterman, Dallas Morning News, Friday, 1/21/05

Column features Highland Village resident Glenn Mackie, the only Texan to finish the Hawaiian Ultra Running Team 100-mile run. (Houston's ultramarathoner Tim Neckar dropped out during the first loop.)

Some New Blogs

I've added a couple of new running blogs to the left hand column in the last day or two!

gabrielrodriguez.blogspot.com -- Gabriel Rodriguez is one of the greater Houston area's best runners and his 2:31:18, 7th place showing at the hp Houston Marathon confirms that. He heads up the On The Run racing team, based out of Clear Lake, Texas.

longestmile.blogspot.com -- I can't describe their site any better than they can: "The Longest Mile is an online diary following the triumphs and travails of Ken Ottmar and Jon Segal, two overweight, out-of-shape, (Monterey Herald) newspaper desk jockeys training for the brutal Big Sur Marathon. Come and taste the pain."

Wednesday's Workout / Run

Yes, both a workout and a run! At approximately 3:30 p.m., I went to Bally's in The Woodlands and clipped off 6.36 miles on the elliptical trainer going for an hour (while reading the March edition of Running Times from cover to cover) at the level 14, random setting.

Then, just shortly at 7:00 p.m., I joined a number of Houston Striders for an approximately 4-4.5 mile run from the PIM (Power In Motion) meeting location near the pool at Memorial Park all the way to Jackson Hill park and back.

Even though the return trip might have been a tad bit shorter, I went out at 22:37.81 and returned in 19:44.18. Steve Shepard and Gavin Dillingham led the group and there was no way that I was keeping up with either of them. The remainder of the pack was made up of Sabra Havey, Clarence Silva, Cindy Laidlaw, Lynlee Linke, Pam Paling, Lisa Ruthven, Barry Chambers and Marjorie Marks.

Part of the reason for the faster return trip is because I had Pam and Lisa, co-directors of PIM, nipping on my heels a couple of times. Despite try to do a little speed work, by running faster between alternating telephone polls on Blossom, I needed to push myself a little and did when they got close before turning on to Wescott St.

Top HARRA Husband-Wife Marathon Teams

By my count, there were 22 husband-wife teams made up of HARRA members. (This is where the couples shared the same last name.) The top 10 (gun times) were as follows:

1.) 5:36:38 (Gabriel and Perla Rodriguez, Bay Area Running Club, 2:31:18 and 3:05:20).
2.) 7:04:46 (Cyndie and Rob Keene, 3:27:50 and 3:36:56).
3.) 7:16:14 (Bill and Mindy Schroeder, Houston Striders, 3:10:26 and 4:05:48).
4.) 7:26:23 (Kimberly and Jim Simmons, Houston Fit, 3:25:13 and 4:01:10).
5.) 7:27:11 (Steve and Nancy Brammer, Tornadoes Running Club, 2:59:24 and 4:27:47).
6.) 7:48:15 (Mark and Christy Coleman, Tornadoes Running Club, 3:29:26 and 4:18:49).
7.) 7:56:35 (Pollyann and Steve Keller, 3:55:40 and 4:00:55).
8.) 7:58:38 (Patti and Rich Sears, Houston Striders, 3:55:38 and 4:03:00).
9.) 8:04:33 (Gerald and Amelia Taylor, 3:36:28 and 4:28:05).
10.) 8:41:55 (Bill and Annette Persohn, Houston Striders*, 3:58:01 and 4:43:54).
* corrected at 12:31 p.m.

In addition, there were 13 husband-wife teams of HARRA members that ran the Aramco Half Marathon. The top five (5) finishers are as follows:

1.) 3:07:50 (Darrell and Donna Sterns, Houston Harriers, 1:31:10 and 1:36:40).
2.) 4:05:05 (Pat and Merry Nelson, Memorial Park Running Club, 1:56:09 and 2:08:56).
3.) 4:32:27 (Charles and Rose Allen, 2:10:13 and 2:22:14).
4.) 4:58:07 (Sophie and Mike Rydin, 2:21:40 and 2:36:27).
5.) 5:14:23 (Lisa Ruthven and Joaquin Rubalcava, Jr., Houston Striders, 2:08:55 and 3:05:18).

Only two husband-wife couples of HARRA members participated in the Houston Press 5K. They were:

1.) 42:23 (Kevin and Karien Goodwin, Bayou City Road Runners, 21:30 and 21:53).
2.) 1:29:18 (Victor and Jan Kaiser, Houston Striders, 38:44 and 50:34).

679 HARRA Members Participate on Houston Race Day

679 of 1,444 HARRA members participated last Sunday in one of the three Houston Marathon events: the hp Houston Marathon, the Aramco Half Marathon or the Houston Press 5K. 417 HARRA members completed the full marathon, 228 were official finishers in the half marathon while yet another 34 took on the 5K.

Participation by HARRA club, according to the file shared by HARRA president Steve Shepard, was as follows: Bayou City Road Runners (113), Houston Striders (112), Houston Fit (63), Al Lawrence Running Club (43), Tornadoes Running Club (36), Terlingua Track Club (35), Houston Masters Sports Association (33), Bay Area Running Club (23), Houston Harriers (20), Team PTI Running & Walking (18), Finish Line Sports (17), Kenyan Way (10), Clear Lake Fitness Club (7), Runners High Club (7), Galloway (3), Memorial Park Running Club (2).

130 participants did not affiliate with a local running club (NONE) while entries were found for SJS (2), TCS (2), GHTC (1), HR (1) and SEA (1). Assuming that SJS is the San Jacinto Striders, GHTC is the Greater Houston Track Club and SEA is the Sea Rim Striders (out of the Beaumont-Port Arthur area).

Some interesting notes include the following:

+ Of the ten (10) Kenyan Way participants, all but one ran the marathon. Their fastest marathoner, Sean Wade, finished 23rd overall in a very tough Aramco Half Marathon field.

+ Of the two biggest clubs, Bayou City turned out 82 for the full, 28 for the half and three (3) for the 5K while the Striders had 67 run the full, 38 the half and seven (7) for the 5K. The Al Lawrence Running Club had nine (9) participants for the 5K, including local race photographer Karen Thibodeaux.

+ There were 22 sub-3:00 marathons run by HARRA members. Houston Striders, paced by Brett Riley, had six (6) of its members pass the test followed by the Tornadoes Running Club with five (5). The Al Lawrence Running Club contributed three (3) while Bayou City, Houston Harriers and Terlingua Track Club each added two (2). Bay Area Running Club and the Houston Masters Sports Association each added one, courtesy of Gabriel Rodriguez and Joe Melanson, respectively.

Sunday / Monday's Runs

I think Tuesday is going to call for a rest (or cardio only) day.

After running the Run The Woodlands 5K on Saturday (and taking Waverly home), I went to Bally's and put 50 minutes in on the stationery bike (at level 9, random) before heading to our church, North Park Baptist Church, and refereeing three (3) youth basketball games (half court).

On Sunday, after church, I drove up to Huntsville State Park and joined Ken Johnson, Marvin Seale, Chris Wilson, Len Hill and J.C. Guzman (all of the Seven Hills Running Club) for a 7-mile trek of what they called the "outer loop". It was the first time that I have ever run on trails and I found it pretty enjoyable! It really taxed the cardio a bit different than road racing; however, I covered the approximately 7 miles in 1:15, a pace of 10:43/mile. (Not too bad for the first time out!)

In my mind, I could see where it might pay dividends to go and run those fairly frequently.

Monday night, I got in a late night run in my subdivision. I did the 1.25-mile loop that starts in front of my house and includes a good portion along FM 2920. All in all, I did 4.7 miles. Three (3) 1.25 mile loops and a shorter .95 mile loop (approximates courtesy of Ford).

Loop 1 - 12:51.16 (10:17 pace)
Loop 2 - 12:52.87 (10:18 pace)
Loop 3 - 13:39.09 (10:55 pace), included walk breaks of 102 and 76 steps
Overall - 39:23.12 (10:30 pace)

For me to crack one (1) hour in the 10K on Saturday at the Mardi Gras Beach Run in Galveston, I'm going to need to maintain a 9:40 pace. It's possible, but it'll be a challenge. I think my plan for the rest of the week will be to do some work in the gym tomorrow, a group run Wednesday night, a run on Thursday, some cardio on Friday and race on Saturday (then referee three games later in the day).

Run The Woodlands 5K #122 Race Report

After getting to the gym last night after flying in from Philadelphia and getting in 50 minutes on the elliptical trainer (5.04 miles at level 14 random), my legs felt pretty good this morning.

But I felt like my cardio was struggling a little bit so I knew that things would be interesting.

Waverly went along for the ride. I thought that Roberta MacInnis from the Houston Chronicle was going to be there in person this morning as she's planning to do a feature on Don Drewniak for her running column. Don, who will be moving before the first of July to Delaware, has been the brainchild and operator of the Run The Woodlands series since its inception in 2000.

When I got there, Don had told me that she had called him on Thursday. (And that she was planning on sleeping in today.) He said that they were going to send a photographer out this week or at the next event.

I just think that Don deserves a little attention before he goes (and he pretty well announced today to everyone that Mike Lucas and the folks at Luke's Locker in The Woodlands would take over the administration of the event.)

But there was a good group in attendance this morning. Over 50, to be exact, including Lou Wilson, who ran the full last Sunday (and also 15 days earlier in Kingwood), and Debbie Tripp, who did the half marathon for the first time ever. Fellow Houston Strider David Kennedy was there as well too and a crew of folks from the Seven Hills Running Club, including Ken Johnson and Hans Jaegar.

As far as running, I could feel that I didn't have my stuff today. The first mile I completed in 9:20.47. The second mile I wasn't off too much with a 9:47.20. However, in the third mile, I needed to walk twice. One break of 78 steps and another of 52. The third mile was 10:05.84 and the last .1 mile was 56.33 seconds. The total time: 30:09.84, a 9:44 pace.

Not bad. I'll take it a week after a full marathon and in 66 degree weather, with humidity.

Alright, off to the gym to get in some bike work and then referee three Upward basketball games at our church, North Park Baptist Church, before watching Waverly play at 4 p.m.

hp Houston Marathon Brightroom.com Pictures

These are always fun to look at!

Jon Walk (Bib #382)
Waverly Walk and Barry Shevchuk (Bib #30296)
(...looks like she really enjoyed it!)

Thursday's Run(s)

Hats off to my daughter, Waverly, this morning! She is in the fourth grade at Abercrombie Academy here on the north side of Houston.

Every year, they have a physical fitness program that requires them to be timed in the mile. Their "practice" mile run was today at Meyer Park (near Stuebner Airline and Cypresswood) after having been cancelled twice in November due to the weather.

I was able to go and pace her. They have two recognition levels -- Presidential and National. The 9-year-old standard for Presidential was in the 9-minute-per-mile range while the National was an 11:52 mile. So Dad did the math and figured an even run would be 2:58 per quarter mile.

Of course, most of the kids were off like gangbusters, but all but a couple of them (a class of 17) were walking before the quarter mile point. We passed the first quarter mile marker in 2:53.34. She started to take a bit of a walk break, but I encouraged her to run to the half mile marker and she posted a 3:02.99 second quarter mile and was right on the money at the half point -- 5:56.33.

She passed a number of kids that were walking and, of course, that inspired some of them to get moving (remember: she wore her medal around her neck at school on Tuesday.)

She started to walk some in the third quarter mile, but posted what I thought to be was a 3:12.10 quarter mile (there's a post, but no sign). As we made a turn on the course to the right, you could see the finish line just off in the distance. I kept reminding her that she didn't have far left to go and in the last couple of hundred yards, she started to sprint as much as she could.

The last quarter mile she did in 2:48.53! A mile time of 11:56.96! Just 4 seconds off of what she needs for some extra recognition. But ... that is about a minute and a half better than what she did on Thanksgiving Day!

As her class walked across the park, I decided to run the mile back around to try and get loose a little bit more. A mother of a classmate of Waverly's, Rachel Johns, said she'd run it with me. I wasn't timing it because I wanted to save the splits to journal here but I felt we were running pretty strong. Just before the 3/4 mile post on the return, Rachel said to take it on in. I wasn't interested in showing anyone up (although I could have since she got me last February in the ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run 10K), so we walked in until about the last 100 yards or so and then sprinted in.

After I had been home a little bit, I decided to try the 3.4-mile loop on the outer parts of my subdivision. The first 15 minutes were OK, but my thighs (more so my quads than hamstrings) are still beaten up pretty bad. I took five walking breaks of 52, 52, 104, 104, and 78 steps at the 15-, 19-, 23-, 26- and 34-minute marks, respectively. And despite those, I finished it in 37:29.16 for a pace of 11:01 per mile.

If the Run The Woodlands 5K on Saturday was today, I'd sit it out.

Iron Women of Houston

To those people that joked that I did too many events, I give you two (2) high performers that put most of us to shame -- Yong Collins and Suzy Seeley.

Maybe it is just because I'm a new runner and/or new to the running scene here in Houston, but these two women have simply impressed me this running season. Here are the results that I know about:

Yong Collins
10/16 - Houston 20K Championship - 1:38:17.2 - 3rd in 45-49 age group
10/23 - Rocky Raccoon 50K - 4:09:25 - 6th female overall, 3rd female masters
11/ 6 - Run With The Saints 5K - 23:06 - 4th in 40-49 age group
11/ 7 - San Antonio Marathon - 3:39:04.8 - 1st in 45-49 age group
11/14 - Oshman's 25K - 2:01:47.6 - 2nd in 50-54 age group
11/25 - Sugarland Turkey Trot 5M - 36:00.3 - 1st in 50-54 age group
12/ 5 - Houstonian Lite 30K - 2:27:18.7 - 2nd in 50-54 age group
12/11 - Sunmart 50M - 10:32:00.2 - 3rd in 50-54 age group
1/ 1 - Texas Marathon - 3:44:27 - 4th female overall
1/16 - hp Houston Marathon - 3:45:51 - 4th in 50-54 age group

Suzy Seeley
10/23 - Rocky Raccoon 25K - 2:09:17 - 3rd female overall, 2nd female masters
10/30 - Beat the Heat 5K - 21:40 - 1st female masters
11/ 7 - San Antonio Marathon - 3:22:24.9 - 4th female overall
11/14 - Oshman's 8.4K - 37:22.9 - 1st female overall
11/25 - Uptown Turkey Trot 10K - 43:11 - 1st in 45-49 age group
12/ 5 - Houstonian Lite 30K - 2:20:04.0 - 3rd in 45-49 age group
12/11 - Sunmart 50K - 4:31:28.4 - 1st female masters
1/ 1 - Texas Marathon - 3:35:12 - 2nd female overall
1/ 2 - Rockets Run 5K - time unknown, but believed to be a top finisher
1/16 - hp Houston Marathon - 3:19:36 - 2nd in 45-49 age group

"The Greater Houston Double"

Fifty (50) of the 114 finishers of the Texas (Jammin' in January) Marathon in Kingwood on New Year's Day also finished the hp Houston Marathon on Sunday. All but five (5) reduced their time over that 15-day span.

The top five (5) males, as far as aggregate time, to pull off "The Greater Houston Double" were John Yoder of Houston (3:01:11, 2:47:02), Mark Fraser of Houston (3:31:24, 3:10:26), Donald Burrell of Katy (3:41:30, 3:20:08), Victor Aguirre of Houston (3:20:52, 3:20:42) and Andy McCartney of Aledo (4:08:41, 3:46:14).

The females were once again led by Suzy Seeley of Spring (3:35:12, 3:19:36), followed by Kelly Vowles of The Woodlands (3:40:18, 3:31:40), Yong Collins of Houston (3:44:27, 3:45:51), Jacqueline O'Brien-Nolen of Kingwood (3:49:49, 3:45:57) and Nancy Wangen of Spring (4:19:56, 3:51:20).

The remaining runners are as follows:

Ann Leoni, F, 44, The Woodlands; Armando Caceres, Jr., M, 46, Lake Jackson; Barbara Reyna, F, 52, Kingwood; Brian Jenison, M, 45, Houston; Charles Scheibe, M, 50, Houston; Chris McMahon, M, 50, Cleveland; Dave Duston, M, 56, Kingwood; Dena Sokolow, F, 48, Houston; Doug Kopp, M, 55, Houston; Elliott Fink, M, 59, Friendswood; Elsa Kuehl, F, 31, Humble; Emilia Pop, F, 24, Humble; Evan Groutage, M, 55, Houston; Fred Ward, M, 61, Houston; Grant Hodges, M, 48, Sugarland; Harris Argo, M, 43, Sugarland; Harry Sokolow, M, 48, Houston; Janice Pfitzer, F, 40, Kingwood; Jim Saunders, M, 53, Houston; Joe Barry, M, 58, Houston; Justin Dishongh, M, 24, Houston; Lou Wilson, M, 68, The Woodlands; Mariano Salazar, M, 51, Houston; Meg Oswald, F, 44, Kingwood; Michelle Wolpert, F, 42, Houston; Mike Huff, M, 42, Houston; Morgan Lusby, M, 55, Houston; Patrick Snyder, M, 56, Houston; Peter Birckhead, M, 50, Houston; Ray Boytim, M, 72, Spring; Rebecca VandeBunt, F, 43, Houston; Rebecca Watkins, F, 28, Kingwood; Rene Villalobos, M, 45, Fort Worth; Richard Jares, M, 57, Santa Fe; Scharine Kirchoff, F, 45, Houston; Shirley Bludau, F, 49, Houston; Steve Boone, M, 55, Humble; Steven (Doug) Stinemetz, M, 47, Houston; Travis Green, M, 41, Houston; William Ervin, M, 40, Houston

Back to Work ... But It Hurts!

Tuesday night, I went to Bally's to try and bicycle through some of the soreness in my thighs. I spent 50 minutes on the stationery bike at level 8 (random).

Then, tonight (laughing), I went out with a plan to run the 2.1-mile loop in my subdivision twice. The first loop was brutal and I walked some of it but still ended up covering it in 23:53.32, an 11:22 per mile pace. (I don't remember being this sore after the Marine Corps Marathon. The Wednesday following it, I went out and ran with the PIM group in Memorial Park.)

Needless to say, I walked the second 2.1-mile loop. My hamstrings are still fairly tight. It may put the Run The Woodlands 5K #122 in jeopardy this coming Saturday. 11 weeks ago, I PR'd the Saturday after the MCM in the Run With The Saints 5K.

As I was walking, I was thinking (besides the goals that I set out at the first of the year): "What am I working towards now?"

Two years ago after finishing the 4-miler, I said that I wanted to do the half in one year and the full one the next. I just realized that on Sunday.

I said earlier this year that I wanted to run a marathon. Well, I've done two now.

I said that I wanted to get HARRA's Iron Foot Award for the fall. I've nailed that down.

All I know right now is that those simple 2.1 miles tonight hurt!

It's Official: 4:55:08 and 43:26!

After noticing the difference in chip time early Tuesday morning, I e-mailed the marathon and Jo Williams responded, "Our computer sytem that is linked to the chips was set for 7 a.m. The gun was delayed however and didn’t go off until 34 secs later. This wasn’t corrected originally and the timing company therefore had to adjust the computer on Sun. night and reset the website times."

A reader of this blog (and fellow Houston Strider), Victor Kaiser had pointed out that they had adjusted the 5K times as well.

I e-mailed Jo back, thanked her for the response (as she had answered a couple of other questions and resolved some issues earlier during the registration process) and posed the following: "So the same thing happened in the 5K just 20 minutes later? Here everyone's time increased by 45 seconds (this was pointed out to me by a fellow runner late this morning .. to which I checked and noticed on my daughter's (and her pacer's .. and others) time as well)?"

Jo responded: "Yes, same thing, we had some cars on the course that had to be cleared so the start was delayed."

I'm not too frustrated about my time. (It just gives me 34 more seconds worth of room for improvement!) Once I got past the finish line, I was so elated to get under 5 hours that I didn't get my watch stopped in time. Therefore, I had nothing to compare too. Others, however, had their doubts from the onset.

Another regular reader of this blog, with well-placed connections, felt like the corrections on the full and the half marathon was right on the money (and with that I'm happy).

I just think that the marathon's touting of their technological advances are a bit hyped and overblown. Don't get me wrong! Great event! Getting in and out of and around the George R. Brown this year was much easier because we didn't have the Super Bowl chewing up space, but Boston's ability to track runners through their web site at every 5K split is just a tad bit more impressive.

And the continuing dialogue that most kids are resilient proved to be true with my 9-year-old, Waverly! When I told her, she was disappointed that it wasn't a faster time ... she frowned, then smiled as if to say: "Oh well." All of this while she had the medal around her neck still from wearing it to school!

As I told J. Fred Duckett in an e-mail this morning, "The fact that she was out there doing 3.1 miles at that age is something that I'm very proud of her of --- regardless of her time!"

4:54:34 becomes 4:55:08!

It seems that everyone that wasn't an elite / invited runner (assuming that since they were starting at or near the front that they didn't have a chip time difference or theirs were programmed not to trigger at the start) has had their chip time adjusted by 34 seconds!

Naturally, I have an e-mail into the hp Houston Marathon this morning (and am eagerly waiting an explanation.)

Anybody that was watching for 5K results when they got home Sunday night (I was to find out if my daughter's chip time difference would net her her second best 5K out of six) knows that you had to go to the overall 5K search to get the chip and gun times. You couldn't get them in the athlete search!

Certainly there was somebody who went to bed Sunday night that had narrowly qualified for Boston (perhaps even including the 59-second give, 3:40:00 to 3:40:59), but now when they check the results find out that they didn't!

One Big Party!

With some different goals on my schedule (NYC in November and possibly Sunmart in December) for the end of 2005, I've thought about not doing Houston again in 2006. However, it is such a big party/celebration, that even though I might not run it, I won't be able to keep from partaking in some way, shape or form.

Of course, the senses are hightened, I believe, when you run well!

As far as this year's event, where do I begin? This one is easy ....

Mile 19. Just about three tenths of a mile beyond the mile marker, I noticed two runners who had passed me earlier (and asked me about the Marine Corps Marathon) turning around with their camera for a picture. My mind said: "Somebody famous!" When I turned and looked, I saw an older gentlemen in an Astros hat and jacket. I pointed at him and said, "President Bush. It's good to see you. Thanks for being out here this morning." He said something back, but I was by him and didn't hear it. I couldn't believe it! I just said "Hi" to a former President of the United States, George Herbert Walker Bush, #41!

J. Fred Duckett. Before the race, I made my annual visit to race's public address announcer who was for years the public address announcer for the Astros in the Astrodome (and is credited with Jose Cruuuuuuuuuuuzzzzzzzzz!) J. Fred, a history teacher at the Awty International School in Houston, is one of the most knowledgeable track individuals in the Southwest and is also the public address announcer for the Texas Relays in Austin. A very proud Rice graduate, he has also been the P.A. announcer at Awtry Court for the men's basketball team as well as at Rice Stadium for the football team. When I got there, I don't think he remembered that I saw him at the Private School All-Star Football game, but he did mention, of course, the picture in the paper from November. However standing very close to him was Houston mayor Bill White!

The visit also paid off in the end! As I'm coming down the stretch, I hollered out "J. Fred!" And he announced, "Jon Walk of Walk Sports". Gotta love it!

Stephanie Turner. She was young woman who was profiled in the Chronicle last Monday that was running for the ill-fated STS-107 space shuttle crew. She was the trainer that worked with the crew that didn't return home from its mission when the space shuttle broke apart two years ago above east Texas. I recognized her from her shirt (from behind) between mile 2 and 3 and said Hi!. (While I can't get to the marathon's site at the moment, I heard on Channel 13 Sunday evening that she finished in around 5:40.)

On the course, I only saw one person from our running club, the Houston Striders, and that was Andrea Chan. Andrea was the 2004 Female Most Improved Runner of the Year and during the 30K in December, she beat me when I started having calf cramps in mile 16. I passed her briefly around mile 7 or 8, then she passed me and stayed within eye sight until we made the turn off of Tanglewood on to Chimney Rock (then I never saw her again). Aside from the Striders that were at the mile 21.5 water stop we had, I saw Geoff Guenther and Carlos Camacho just a little bit on the other side of that.

After the race, I was able to connect up with a number of other Striders, including Megan Clark-Dillingham (who was just two minutes off of her target goal of 4 hours for her first marathon!), Whitney La Rocca (who was five minutes shy of her 4:30 target, but had a nice PR! to show for it), Stacey Stepler (another Fitness PIMster who was running her first marathon), Juan Arrieta (who posted a nice PR of 3:34:15), Carole Flad and Sam Ogundele.

Before the race, I saw Denise Van Kuiken, who frequents the Run The Woodlands 5K Series quite a bit. On the course, I saw Ken Johnson, president of the Seven Hills Running Club, along Crawford very early on. And after the race, I saw Debbie Tripp, also a Run The Woodlands regular, and more importantly, got a much-needed hug (inside the GRB) after finishing!

During the half last year, it really didn't seem like there was all of the spectators that Houston had been talking about (but it was cold and damp last January). This year, there was good number of people everywhere!

Some people had their bib number on their chest and many people called out their name constantly. Mine was taped on the front of my shorts because I was wearing my Marine Corps Marathon race jacket, but still to the many people that called out my name: many, many thanks! It helped! (You hate to disappoint people cheering for you!)

I got emotional a number of times on the course because I knew that I was going to shatter my first effort and that I was going to complete a goal two years ago of running the 4-miler, then the half and finally, the full. But, crossing Kirby on University, I had tears in my eyes, overwhelmed with all of the American flags that lined the street. It was a special sight.

Going through Memorial Park seemed fairly sparse with people, but Memorial Drive beyond that was packed with people .... as well as the last 500 to 1,000 yads.

I was sobbing at the end after I crossed the line! I couldn't believe that I had beaten 5 hours! (I had to stop to make sure that I had a good finisher's picture taken!)

4:54:34 and 42:41!

The weather couldn't have been any better for running in Houston!

I scored my second marathon -- the hp Houston Marathon -- with a smashing, new personal record of 4:54:34 (eclipsing the 5:39:06 set in my first one during the Marine Corps Marathon).

Waverly, my 9-year-old daughter (at a hair under 5' and 115 pounds), completed the Houston Press 5K in 42:41, which was her 2nd best 5K of six (6) in her short running career.

We already made it to Pappasito's Mexican Restaurant for a well-deserved lunch. (Tomorrow, I need to begin making some changes in diet. But today, I celebrated!) I'll have more notes, recollections, and comments on the day's festivities later or on Monday.

hp Houston Marathon Expo - Day 2

After watching my daughter, Waverly, play basketball this morning in our church's Upward Basketball program, I ventured to the west side of town to join a group of Houston Striders at the Old Pasta Company on Westheimer, between Kirkwood and Dairy Ashford.

I then headed into downtown to go to the Health & Fitness Expo one more day before Sunday's hp Houston Marathon.

I specifically was going for two things: 1.) to buy a technical running shirt that Brooks Running had and 2.) to meet Paula Robertson of Coppell with the "Love The Half" Challenge. Paula had indicated that she has approximately 175 participants for the inaugural 2004-2005 challenge. I spent quite a bit of time talking to her and Lewis George of Dallas. George puts on a number of events, including the White Rock Half. Houston Striders that are also doing the "Love The Half" Challenge besides myself as Pam Paling, Frank Halter, Loren and Judith Neufeld, Jack Rubalcalva and Lisa Ruthven.

Other people seen at the Expo on Saturday included a lot of folks that I mentioned in an earlier day's blog entry: Ken Johnson (full), Ann Leoni (full), Denise Van Kuiken (5k) and Debbie Tripp (half). Geoff Guenther (half), HARRA webmaster and fellow Strider, was there to pick up his race packet as were Striders Chris Boylan, Bryon Everson and Whitney La Rocca. Noah Matthews (half) was manning the HARRA booth with one of the HEB Texas 10K Challenge finishers Gail Sabanosh.

I also had a chance to talk with the folks that were manning the Marine Corps Marathon booth and shared with them my experiences from this year.

Well, the weather looks great for tomorrow! The wind is expected to be in the 10-15 mph range so I'm going with a long sleeve technical shirt topped by my Marine Corps Marathon race jacket.

Semper Fi! And getting ready to do my best in marathon #2!

Friday/Saturday Marathon Coverage

Half-marathoner Browne running with a vengeance
by Dale Robertson, Saturday, 1/14/05 ..... Grade: C+

Again, I thought the purpose of a hometown newspaper was to profile hometown athletes. I have nothing against Dan Browne, but people that aren't into running, I would imagine, would just as soon read about local athletes as opposed to an out-of-towner. Maybe that's coming on Sunday.

Dolan take self-healing to new heights
by Dale Robertson, Saturday, 1/14/05 ..... Grade: A

Garrett Dolan beats cancer not just once, but twice and will attempt his first marathon ever. Best wishes Garrett!

Marathoner says son gave reason to lose weight
by Allan Turner, Saturday, 1/14/05 ..... Grade: A

Another great story about people overcoming great odds (90 pounds in Kristin Vigeant's case) to "Run for a Reason" -- namely, her son, Ryan, who suffered from brain tumors as a newborn five years ago. This will be Viegant's 4th marathon. The others? Austin Motorola (February 2004, 4:15:13.3), Houston Marathon (January 2003, 4:40:56)

Driven to excel, wheelchair hoops team enters 5K
by Dale Robertson, Friday, 1/13/05 ..... Grade: A

Excellent story about a nationally-ranked, Houston-based youth wheelchair basketball team that will be giving the Houston Press 5K a spin of the wheels on Sunday.

Shawn Colvin pulls double duty for half marathon
by Michael D. Clark, Friday, 1/13/05 ..... Grade: C

Again, we have nobody from Houston that can sing the National Anthem and then run? I have no problem with this Masters triathlete singing for the Freescale Marathon in Austin. Although it is not the writer's fault, shame on the marathon itself of not coming up with a more viable candidate!

16,339 for Houston!

This is certainly not an official number above, but it would appear to reflect all online and mail-in registrants through Wednesday (because of one that I did for the individual that is running with Waverly). I did a search of the hp Houston Marathon database this morning and these look like the numbers for each event:

Aramco Half Marathon -- 7,311
hp Houston Marathon -- 6,890
Houston Press 5K -- 2,016
Elite Runners -- 122

Total -- 16, 339

hp Houston Marathon Expo

Waverly and I went downtown to pick up our race packets Friday afternoon at about 4 p.m. We parked close to Minute Maid Park and walked past the new finish line area, which was being constructed on the north end of the George R. Brown Convention Center. (It is where a good friend of mine will be seated for much of the race, public address announcer J. Fred Duckett.)

First things first once we got inside -- pick up our race packets and bib numbers. I let her take of her confirmation card (she's 9), walk up to the booth and get all of her information. (I took care of Barry Shevchuk's, who will be running with her.) We walked over, took the electronic timing chips to a computer to make sure they would register the time to the right person and then went to get the race T-shirts. (I think the Houston Press 5K are actually the better looking of the three!)

Then, I went and got mine. Ahh, the blue bib this year! #382!
I had desired this day for a long time and the realization will come full circle on Sunday.

We walked around the Expo for about 45 minutes. I spoke with Gina Marchese Paris, the co-director of the Little Rock Marathon. She had talked me into coming to their event last year, where I PR'd in the half (three minutes faster than Houston). She had a pink T-shirt on that said "Size Matters!", relating to the size of their finisher's medals (for both the full marathon and the half marathon). This event is on my calendar, but may be a late confirmation for me. I want to do more half marathons in 2005 not sure about the travel there though.

I had a chance to visit at length with Nancy Kelchin, the publisher of Health and Fitness Sports Magazine, who was manning their booth.

There were all kinds of races there promoting their events. As I pointed out to Waverly, I rarely pick up any of the pamphlets because I know where everything is online. I should have made a list but the marathons included: Dallas White Rock, Marine Corps, Little Rock, Country Music, the Rock 'N' Roll series, Freescale Austin and a few others (Seattle, Durango, Vancouver and one from Charleston, South Carolina). The folks with Mellew Racing in Dallas where there to promote their events, including CCCD's White Rock Half in November. The Texas Round-Up 10K folks were there.

You could make all kinds of clothing and shoe purchases, aside from the official merchandise of the marathon (which just really isn't that appealing this year -- all pastel colors!). I would buy a nice technical shirt with the marathon on it ... but they didn't have anything. Brooks had a really nice teal shirt that had a Texas or Houston-like logo with a red, white and blue star that they were selling for $28. I may take some of my birthday money and get it on Saturday (after the Striders carbo loading feast at noon).

I picked up a couple of packets of Gu at the Luke's Locker booth (I meant to pick them up when I was in their Woodlands store this week). I'll probably take these at the 3-hour and 4-hour points. When I did a training run on the course three weeks ago, I had one at mile 16 and unless it was all mental, I did experience a pick me up after mile 18 all the way to mile 20 (and crossing Loop 610 into Memorial Park).

All in all, I'm pretty much set for race day.

We'll be leaving our house in Spring at 4:30 a.m. to pick up Barry Shevchuk at 4:50 a.m. The plan will be to be parked near Minute Maid Park by 5:30 a.m. That will give me some time to go inside the GRB, go by the Striders tent, attend the pre-race church service at 6 a.m. and then go on over to the Toyota Center to meet with the folks from our PIM Fitness group for a group picture at 6:25 a.m. (I saw Christina Rodriguez, a PIMster and fellow Strider, in line to get her chip scanned yesterday. She had had a rough week at nursing school at HBU this week.)

As far as running is concerned, the goal is to stay as close to 11 minute miles as possible. If I can do this, I can pull in a 4:48 time!

Miscellaneous: Waverly's computer teacher at Abercrombie Academy, Sandra Belmore, will be running the Houston Press 5K as will Houston-area race photographer Karen Thibodeaux. Karen is a long-time member of the Al Lawrence Running Club and she told me that she'll be running the 5K then going out to shoot pictures of her club's members as well as some of her clients and customers ..... Noticing a number of the Run The Woodlands 5K Series participants will be running this weekend. Ann Leoni (44,f) and Lou Wilson (68,m) will be doing the full marathon after running Steve Boone's Texas Marathon in Kingwood two weeks ago. Denise Van Kuiken (46,f) will be running the Houston Press 5K. It looks as if her husband, Gary, is sitting this weekend out after running the Texas Marathon and the Mason Legg First Light Marathon in Mobile on back-to-back days two weeks ago ..... Real estate agent Paula Hagerman and organizer of the Klein HS Bearkat Bash (Waverly's debut 5K) is running the Aramco Half Marathon ..... Seven Hills Running Club president Ken Johnson got signed up before I did. He'll be wearing bib #226. Other Seven Hills members running this weekend include: Armando Ayala (full), Melissa Broussard (full), Marvin Dittfurth (full), J.C. Guzman (full) and Ben Harvie (full).

Chronicle's Wednesday/Thursday Marathon Coverage

Three articles on Wednesday and Thursday in the Chronicle. Here's my scorecard:

Jack Lippincott's marathon streak alive and kicking at 30
by Dale Robertson, Wednesday, 1/12/05 ..... Grade: A

This is one story that you just can't go wrong with. It is one of the more impressive streaks in marathoning, I think. I'm kind of curious how many other events around the country have a streak like this going. Probably more than I'm aware of.

Early bird gets the best seat
by Dale Robertson, Thursday, 1/13/05 ..... Grade: C+

Ugh! I don't know. Maybe Robertson's attempt at humor comes across in this article as disingenuous comments, but where the big chuckle here is that you can find the list of the ten (10) top spots to watch the marathon from in a Yahoo search! Go to this link, look at Robertson's article and see the wordsmithing going on.

Running Notebook: Spectators appreciated, but follow proper protocol
by Roberta MacInnis, Thursday, 1/13/05 ..... Grade: A

Not sure how any of this could have been said any better. But, then again, it comes from a runner!

Drop me a comment and let me know if you agree or not!

Three Days Away / Warden to pace Walk

Eleven (11) weeks ago, I was a nervous wreck getting ready to head to Washington, D.C. to run my first marathon -- the Marine Corps Marathon. My anxiety level had reached its highest point on Wednesday evening/Thursday morning as I knew that they were many details, aside from the actual event, that needed to occur from when we left on Friday and returned on Sunday evening.

Perhaps it's because I'm at home. Maybe it's because I've done one of these before. Or maybe even it is because I've run the course once already with my running club, the Houston Striders, and the weather looks like it is shaping up to be very favorable. Whichever it is or if it is all three, I'm much more relaxed about this Sunday's hp Houston Marathon.

I'm excited that my daughter, Waverly, is going to attempt another 5K. And should I have a favorable day on Sunday, I'm setting my sights on a marathon in between now and November's New York City Marathon -- the God's Country Marathon that runs between Galeton and Coudersport, Pennsylvania the first weekend of June. (It will give me a chance to squeeze in a visit to see my grandparents in central Pennsylvania.)

Joining me near mile marker 19 on Woodway Drive will be 2001 Houston Second Baptist School graduate Peter Warden, who ran cross country for the Eagles. The Texas A&M student assistant for the Aggies' men's basketball team will be in town this weekend and will be pacing me on into downtown. When I burned out from covering private and parochial high school sports during the football season of 2001, Warden and Bryan Allen Academy graduate Casen DeLucia created txprivatesports.com to pick up some of the void that I had left with my departure. I'm really honored that Peter will help keep me focused and running down the stretch towards downtown.

The only thing different that I've done is gone out and gotten a Timex Ironman sports watch that will allow me to measure my mile splits on Sunday. I had planned to use some of my Christmas and birthday money to buy a fancier Timex unit with the Garmin GPS tracking system built-in. However, when I went to Luke's Locker this evening in The Woodlands, the woman there kind of talked me out of it as well as taking a look at Nike's non-GPS option (with a foot pod to measure distance). What I didn't tell her is that I primarily wanted to have something for Sunday.

So I ended up between Oshman's and Wal-Mart before landing a $34 watch at Wal-Mart that I'll be able to measure my performance with on Sunday (and races beyond).

2005 HEB Texas 10K Challenge

Maybe I'm ahead of the curve here, but I noticed the update on this at the Bayou City Classic's website today after reading the December 2004 HARRA Board meeting minutes.

As I stated in an earlier blog entry, there were just seven (7) finishers in the 6-race 2004 Challenge, which included 10K races in Houston, Austin, Tyler, San Antonio, Gilmer and McAllen. Pamela Willmon had reported that there were approximately 50 people, including yours truly, who had signed up for the Challenge. [I completed the first four, but ran into a scheduling conflict with the Marine Corps Marathon ... or I would have been finisher #8!]

So what's new for 2005?

1.) It's a 5-race Challenge instead of six.
2.) The events are more evenly placed across the calendar. (March, April, May, July and September). Last year's included two in March, one in April, one in July, one in October and the final one in November.
3.) Four of the five races are close to the I-35 corridor. (Fredericksburg, Fort Worth, Lampasas and San Marcos)
4.) There are no major conflicts with the HARRA Spring Series or Fall/Winter marathon training race schedules (for San Antonio, Dallas or Houston).

Out are the Austin American-Statesman Capitol 10K (Bellaire Trolley Run 5K is the day before), the Tyler Azalea 10K (direct conflict with the Law Week 8K), the Combat Medic Run in San Antonio, the Possum Trot in Gilmer and the McAllen International Run.

New for 2005 are as follows:

April 23 -- Fredericksburg Wildflower 10K Run
May 15 -- Fort Worth Runners Club Bud Run 10K
July 9 -- Lampasas' Toughest 10K in Texas
September 17 -- San Marcos' Country Roads 10K

The Wildflower 10K Run supports the Hill Country Memorial Hospital and is just $15 while the Toughest 10K in Texas in Lampasas will be celebrating its 25th running this year.

The Bud Run 10K and the Country Roads 10K are put on by two running clubs, the Fort Worth Runners Club and the San Marcos Runners Club. The Country Roads 10K this past September was a first-year event, is low-key, but has a nice, tough course. President David Alexander did a super job. I've done two of the Fort Worth Runners Club club runs, which are timed events that are just $8 for non-members, and had a great time at both.

I had recommended the Best Little 10K in Texas, held during October in La Grange, but my fear is that it conflicted with the Striders-managed Koala/Luke's 20K (like it did this year). The 10K is held on a Saturday while the 20K is held on a Sunday.

Two thumbs up! These races are already on my calendar and I'll be shooting to be one of the few to pull of the new "Love The Half" half marathon Challenge AND the 2005 HEB Texas 10K Challenge.

Tuesday's Marathon Coverage in The Chronicle

Yawn.

I'm sure 50-year-old Stephanie Rankin (from North Carolina) and her 25-year-old son, Conor (from Boston), will have a wonderful time coming to the Space City, celebrating their birthdays and enjoying successes in the Aramco Half Marathon and hp Houston Marathon, respectively. However, this is a story that shouldn't have EVEN graced the sports pages. Maybe the main or business sections (to speak to the economic clout of the event), but not the sports section. I give this a grade of D.

Why? Lack of common sense. If you are going to do an article on somebody coming in from out of town "to come down to Houston for a Sunday run," find somebody that made us a first choice!

The article pointed out that they were only coming here because they waited too long to register for the Disney World Half Marathon, which was held this past weekend in Orlando.

There are two problems here.

First, Neil Hohlfeld doesn't need to be writing these articles in between covering the Rockets, the Aeros or whatever college event they send him to. Again, we need the section's resident runner -- and HARRA member -- writing them: Roberta MacInnis. That's why they give her a running notebook during the year!

Secondly, isn't there somebody from the Marathon providing some direction on potential subjects to write about? [The Marine Corps Marathon, on their web site, seeks out motivating stories. Presumably to share with the local media which often has somebody who isn't a runner writing copy.] If so, they would have identified an out-of-town individual, much like Stephanie Turner the day before, that put Houston on their running map first and had a worthwhile story to tell in the process.

I just think that there are so many great runners in the greater Houston and Gulf Coast area that could be profiled. What about the local runners who may have an outside shot of pushing whatever elites decide to show up? What about the race for the HARRA team and club championships in the Fall series? What about a graphic on how the local invited runners qualified?

Instead we get an article that may have taken Hohlfeld all of an hour to write.

Monday's Workout / Run

I need to start doing these earlier in the day. :) I went to Bally's at about 8:30 p.m. I got 30 minutes in on the elliptical trainer (level 14, random) before not feeling so well. (I think it was because I had dinner within the hour.)

I then did 24 minutes on the stationery bike (level 7, hill routine). Fairly easy, even with the hill routine, before venturing back to the elliptical trainer and getting in another 21 minutes and 40 seconds.

After being home for a little bit (less than an hour), I knocked out a 3.4-mile run in 38:45.27, a pace of 11:24 per mile (which would translate to a marathon of 4:58:30). I felt real, real sluggish through the first 23 minutes and then I thought things picked up, especially the last half mile or so which was on asphalt (vs. the concrete). I'll get two more workouts in before I shut it down for the week.

Marathon Coverage from The Chronicle

I'm just about ready to complete year two as a runner. (One and a half, actually, since I didn't get serious until the summer of 2003.) Anyways ... I think I can voice an opinion about the Chronicle's coverage of this year's hp Houston Marathon.

First, let me be real clear about this: Any coverage is better than no coverage!

Today's story about United Space Alliance employee Stephanie Turner, a part of the training team of the STS-107 [which broke apart during re-entry almost two years ago] who is running her second Houston marathon to honor the crew, draws an A+.

Although the Chronicle's lead off story on Sunday to its 2005 coverage was decent for the uninformed or non-runner [overall score: B], I really object to Dale Robertson writing this article. I think Roberta MacInnis, a runner and HARRA member, would have been more suited for this piece.

Why? Robertson's piece is a fluff job. Is the Chronicle trying to sell all the people that will forget about the street closures and who will flood their e-mail boxes with letters about those of us who will push the 5-hour envelope to complete the course? It would seem that way.

I think the serious runner knows that Houston isn't Los Angeles, Chicago, New York or Boston. Don't even attempt to make the comparison. The big table in the middle of the article, pointing out the number of finishers (Houston's 4,699 in 2004 to LA's 17,306 two months later in March), will only serve as fuel on the fire for the event's detractors.

"Each of the more than 16,000 total runners expected to run/jog/walk/stagger/crawl all or portions of the 26.2-mile loop ..."

Ok, leave the stagger and crawl portions out! Again, a runner writing this story, like MacInnis, would never bring those two words up. Realistically, this only occurs near the finish line but lumping the words together with run, jog and walk gives credence to the long-time runners who fear that the influx of walkers and adult-onset athletes will one day force Houston to keep the course open for up to 8 hours.

Again, why feed the negative stereotypes?

Some other sticking points:

+ hp Houston Marathon is not the "peoples' marathon". I've always believed this to be the Marine Corps Marathon's slogan but it is one that even the folks at Disney, run this past Sunday, are trying to capitalize on.

+ "Most races give you an apple and a banana and say, "Thank you very much,' " says Karpas. Again, I would disagree. At least not at the two races that I have been to that are larger than Houston -- the Indianapolis Mini Marathon and the Marine Corps Marathon. I never felt that way. I think it is a pretty disingenuous comment. Certainly, I can take one item [let's say, a finisher's medal ... Houston doesn't even compare to Indy or the MCM] and make a case to support my argument, but it's not about being adversarial. I think more qualification needed to be put into Karpas' quote. Maybe compared to 5Ks and 10Ks, but certainly not to other marathons.

One good thing about the coverage? A listing of the street closures! Let's hope they put it on the front page on Saturday and Sunday. Maybe this will stem the tide of the letters to the editors on Monday morning.

Run The Woodlands 5K #121 Race Report

A nice cool morning for running helped turn in my 3rd best 5K ever (29:24.34), my third best scored run overall (52.7) and the second drop in 5K time this year since the Seven Hills Running Club Resolution Run 5K last Saturday morning.

I felt like I got off a tad bit fast, but nothing like last Sunday. I was just short of the 1-mile mark, looked at my watch and saw 8:50-something. I thought it was too fast, but I crossed at 9:19. Most of mile two felt good, but I was a little disappointed when I saw 18:57 or 9:38 in mile two.

From mile 2 to the 2.3-mile turn down Crownridge, it is a slight uphill. I tried to push here because it is a place where I get fatigued a little bit. I did good here and tried to maintain a good pace on a very slight downhill to the turn in into the school parking lot.

Here at about mile 2.95, I looked at my watch and saw 27:50-something. I thought that I still might have a chance to crack 29 minutes, but I've realized that I have to be at 28-flat or better at the mile 3 marker to have that opportunity.

I finished in 29:24.34 on my stopwatch; 29.22, officially. (Once the official results are posted later this morning, I'll revish this post with some news and notes.)

Time now to relax and focus on next Sunday -- what I've been waiting for since this past June: the hp Houston Marathon.

Friday's Workout

I felt really good about my running Thursday night (and relieved that Monday and Tuesday night's run didn't follow me home).

Today, I went to Bally's and spent an hour on the elliptical trainer. (Well, 23 minutes and then 37 minutes.) I picked up Waverly from school then went straight to the club in The Woodlands. When we got there, their child care person wasn't there yet so I got an OK from Brent, the manager of the club, for her to wait in the open workout area. Once someone got there at 4 p.m., I had to get off the machine and sign her in.

I pushed myself on the 37 minutes on the back end and covered just slightly over 3.7 miles.

I really believe that this cross training exercise helps me mentally to keep pushing on in a race.

Waverly and I went to Jason's Deli afterwards to get a bite to eat and then to the new Luke's Locker store in The Woodlands where I looked at a couple of pair of trail shoes as well as the Timex watch that had a Garmin GPS unit built into it. $197 or $200. With my HARRA discount, that should make it $180 plus tax.

In the morning? Run The Woodlands 5K #121! Later? I'll referee three basketball games at 3, 4 and 5 p.m. in our church's Upward Basketball league. Waverly plays at 2 p.m.

Thursday's Run / Miscellaneous Thoughts

Much better!

I typically run on Thursday nights near our church, North Park Baptist Church on Theiss Road in far north Houston, while my daughter, Waverly, practices basketball. However, it was a tad bit cold for my liking. I drove to Humble planning to run on the treadmill at Bally's, but they were all full when I arrived there.

Instead they have a track that if you complete 13 loops of it, you will run a mile. Doing my best John Yoder impersonation, I covered the first 26 laps in 19:48 (and change), walked two laps, then did an additional 26 laps (two miles, of course) in 20:28 (and change). An overall pace of 10:04 per mile (9:54 and 10:14 paces on each set of loops). I'll take it, feeling like I had run fairly strong.

Getting home (the earlier running took place between 7:50 and 8:35 pm) after picking up Waverly from basketball practice, I felt the urge to put in a couple of more miles. This time: outside in the near 40 degrees weather.

This time, I did a 2.1-mile loops in 21:58.87, a pace of 10:28 per mile. It felt a little better than that, but it still felt good compared to Monday and Tuesday's runs. My only concern is that I seem to have picked up a side stitch on my right side that I can't shake. It was more pronounced in the cold weather outside.

6.1 miles. Good pace. I'm getting ready well for Houston.

Miscellaneous: It looks as if we'll be getting the PIM Fitness group for a pre-marathon picture in front of the Toyota Center on Sunday "marathon morning". What a great way to get everyone motivated and excited! ..... There was a note on Karen Thibodeaux's site about a new HARRA 6K cross country championship that is to occur on Sunday, February 6th. I hope the date is right as I'm getting ready to send in my entry fee to the Lake Houston YMCA Bridge Fest ..... Speaking of race entry fees, I was thinking how much of a "no brainer" the Run The Woodlands 5K Series is. You can do 24 5K's over 2005 at a total cost of $24. No T-shirt, but for $25 next Sunday, you do one (1) 5K and get a T-shirt. Like I said: "no brainer"! ..... Eagerly awaiting the January 2005 edition of the Houston Striders' Stridelines newsletter ..... Am getting logistics lined out for marathon day. A friend of my family, J. Barry Shevchuk, will be pacing my daughter, Waverly, in the Houston Press 5K. And I'll be announcing shortly who I will have pacing me the last 6-8 miles once I turn onto Woodway during the marathon ..... Which do I buy with my $100 gift certificate to Luke's Locker? A new pair of trail shoes or put it towards a good watch that will keep split times (or perhaps one of the GPS models)?

Texas Runners at Out-of-State Marathons

The first weekend of the new year featured three (3) U.S. marathons and Texans participated in each of them.

The Texas Marathon in Kingwood was held on New Year's Day and saw 95 of the 114 overall finishers hailing from the Lone Star State. 8 of the 19 out-of-staters to Texas were members of the 50 States Marathon Club. Houston Strider John Yoder, who was second last summer in the Mount Rushmore Marathon, scored a win in 3:01:11 edging out Houston's Gary Zimmerman by just a minute and 29 seconds. The top two female finishers from Texas were Suzy Seeley and Kelly Vowles, who finished second and third, respectively, with times of 3:35:12 and 3:40:18. Houston Strider Yong Collins was fourth with a time of 3:44:27.

The following HARRA members were finalists at the Texas Marathon:

John Yoder, 33, Houston, 3:01:11 (1 male, 1 overall)
Victor Aguirre, 53, Houston, 3:20:52 (5, 5)
Mark Fraser, 48, Houston, 3:31:24 (10, 10)
Peter Birckhead, 50, Houston, 3:39:41 (14, 16)
Patrick Snyder, 56, Houston, 4:21:41 (31, 41)
Grant Hodges, 48, Sugarland, 4:31:51 (34, 45)
Morgan Lusby, 55, Houston, 4:32:36 (35, 47)
Harry Sokolow, 48, Houston, 5:21:26 (49, 71)
Steve Boone, 55, Humble, 5:31:42 (54, 80)
William Ervin, 40, Houston, 5:40:30 (58, 86)
Travis Green, 41, Houston, 5:52:14 (61, 90)
Evan Groutage, 55, Houston, 7:46:53 (73, 112)

Suzy Seeley, 45, Spring, 3:35:12 (2 female, 13 overall)
Yong Collins, 50, Houston, 3:44:27 (4, 20)
Je'anna Abbott, 42, Houston, 3:45:45 (5, 21)
Elsa Kuehl, 31, Humble, 4:32:10 (12, 46)
Rebecca Watkins, 28, Kingwood, 4:36:39 (15, 52)
Michelle Wolpert, 42, Houston, 4:43:44 (16, 55)
Dena Sokolow, 48, Houston, 5:21:27 (23, 72)
Rebecca VandeBunt, 43, Houston, 5:21:28 (24, 73)
Meg Oswald, 44, Kingwood, 5:24:50 (25, 75)
Vickie Hildebrandt, 48, Houston, 6:10:33 (34, 101)
Penny Derkowski, 44, Houston, 6:41:42 (36, 104)

The only Texas finisher (of 66 overall) in the 4th annual Redding (California) Marathon, also run on New Year's Day, was Del Rio's Lisa Good, who turned in a performance of 4:24:56. (Last November, Good was 15th in her 40-44 age group at the San Antonio Marathon with a time of 4:15:15.4 and this past February in Austin, she posted a 4:05:50.7 effort.)

On January 2nd, in Mobile, Alabama, at the Legg Mason Funds First Light Marathon, six (6) Texans -- all males -- were among the 206 finishers who made the jaunt over from the Lone Star State. They were as follows:

Glenn Herzog, 62, Fredericksburg, 4:11:07, 9:36 pace (3rd in age group, 89th overall)
Brian Pearson, 41, Beaumont, 4:11:25, 9:36 (15th, 91st)
J.D. Davis, 41, Houston, 4:14:37, 9:44 (16th, 96th)
Phillip Hamilton, Jr., 25, Houston, 4:26:33, 10:11 (3rd, 111th)
Gary Van Kuiken, 46, The Woodlands, 4:27:00, 10:12 (12th, 113th)
Frederick Shepard, 45, Houston, 4:40:09, 10:42 (16th, 130th)

Special mention goes to Van Kuiken, a member of Boone's 50 States Marathon Club, as he ran the Texas Marathon on January 1st in 4:07:29 the day before. According to marathonguide.com, Van Kuiken ran six (6) marathons in 2004, including Mardi Gras, Desert Morning News, New Mexico, Wichita, Midsouth and Oklahoma.

Insanity Sets In

I disconnected my hp scanner from my old desk top and connected it to my newer hp Pavilion laptop. After testing and finding out it worked just fine, I scanned all of my race bib numbers and uploaded them to my website, http://www.walksports.com/.

For example, the bib number from the Rockets Run on Sunday can be found at http://www.walksports.com/bibevent82.jpg (as it was the 82nd event that I've done in my two-year running career).

The rest of them can be found as links on the bib numbers on the respective yearly racing results pages.

Tuesday's Run

Ugh again! I don't know if it because I'm running late in the evening, but I'm trying to keep from getting discouraged here (especially so close to the marathon).

I ran the 2.1-mile loop within the subdivision in 22:17.31, a pace of 10:37 per mile.

Then I decided to run the new 3.4-mile loop around the perimeter. (Maybe I should have went back inside!) I covered this in 38:54.73, a pace of 11:27 per mile.

I went out to run at about 11:45 p.m. Earlier in the evening from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., I was at Bally's and did an hour on the stationery bike.

Two good days, Saturday and Sunday. Sub 30-minute 5Ks then two yucky days of running. We'll see what tomorrow holds. :)

Monday's Run

Since I had to go and put a couple of tires on the truck before Waverly and I went to the HBU-Dillard University women's basketball game, I didn't get in my run until approximately 10:45 p.m.

I ran between 4.6 and 4.7 miles tonight. (It's a little hard to be completely exact with a Ford F150 pickup truck.)

I measured off a new 3.4-mile loop around and outside the perimeter of our subdivision. I covered this distance in 38:07.31. If it sounds slow, it was. Just put the numbers in -- ugh, 11:13 per mile. (But, that translates to a 4:54 marathon time!) Bottom line: It didn't feel good. I got some "pick me up" when I got on the asphalt on FM 2920.

I then decided to go another 1.2-1.3 miles (thinking it is really 1.25) and tried to speed things up a little bit. During the first minute, I had 165 steps and kept a good solid count of eight (8) the entire way. I did this time trial in 12:47.62 -- or a pace of 10:14 per mile. (Yes, it felt faster ... but it felt faster than that!)

Oh well, better day tomorrow! (And for the record, I did an hour last night at Bally's on the elliptical trainer. Level 14, random setting -- 5.95 miles.)

Rockets Run 5K Report

I did the first leg of the Houston Pro Sports Team 5K Triple Crown today by completing the 3rd annual Houston Rockets Run. (The Texans' Running with the Bulls will most likely be on Draft Day weekend again in April while the Astros will have their Race for the Pennant again on Memorial Day.)

It was my 82nd career event, 38th 5K and second event of the new year. The certified course started on LaBranch in front of the Toyota Center and headed south to Holman. Two quick right-hand turns and we were heading back north on Austin. A right turn on to Bell, a right on Chenevert and a third right onto Leeland pointed you into the Tundra garage, through the lower level and up onto center court inside the arena.

The course was well-marked (no wrong turns this year ... even the Race Director joked about this). HPD and Bayou City Road Runners (BCRR) volunteers were at every intersection providing a safe, but open course. Two water stations, just after the mile markers, and Gatorade and water at the end of the court inside. Post-race party included music, pizza and a soft drink/water. T-shirt with the Rockets mascot, "Clutch", transforming into a runner was actually nice!

I saw fellow PIMsters Sophie Rydin (from my Fitness group) and David Kennedy (who was in Steve Shepard's group). Sophie finished a little behind me in 29:48. David had a good, solid run of 21:34. I also had a chance to meet one of Houston's top female runners, Suzy Seeley.

My run? It went OK. I felt like I ran better yesterday in Huntsville (on hills) with a 29:57 than I did today with a 29:34 on a completely flat course (except for the downhill through the Tundra garage). I went 9:30, 9:14 and then 10:13 (the last 1.1 yesterday).

Today? 9:06, 9:39 and then 10:49 (9:46/1:03 - the last 1.1 today).

With the wide street (LaBranch), I stayed to the far outside on the right (and didn't get in anyone's way), but started towards the front because I didn't want to have a big differential knowing that the result probably wasn't going to be recorded. Instead, I went out WAY too fast for me. I was thinking "crash and burn" towards the end of the run. I actually had two walking breaks (of 25-30 seconds) other than the water stop. Many 5Ks I never stop for water.

I need to do 9:40, 9:20 and 9:00 (which translates into 54 seconds the last .1) to have a shot at cracking 29 minutes. Another day though! Perhaps next Saturday at Run The Woodlands 5K #121.

But I'm developing some consistency. 10 of the last 14 5Ks (not counting the 2 I paced Waverly) have been sub-30 minutes. 13 of the 14 have been 30:18 or better. Where I've seen the bigger gains have been at the longer distances where I've developed stamina and some strength as opposed to the sheer speed.

Former HARRA president and BCRR's John Phillips explained to everyone before the race at the start line about how the awards would be handed out to the first 25 male and female finishers -- and to the first three males and females. When I crossed the finish line, it was a wide crossing at center court so I didn't see anyone that might have had a timing device and writing down bib numbers. [My thought is that I'd scan through Karen Thibodeaux's finish line pictures for times and runners in case there were any other Striders there.]

Could have been better, but I walked away learning something ... which can never hurt!

First Event of 2005: An Age Group Win!

Well, OK. There were only ten (10) runners and I was the only 30-39 male runner in the entire bunch! But given that it is one of the toughest 5K courses I've ever run on, I'll savor the blue ribbon proudly!

I participated in the Seven Hills Running Club's Resolution Run 5K this morning in Huntsville. (This is the same club that puts on the Huntsville Half Marathon.) For those that have done that event, it follows the same path as the half marathon all the way to the back side of Bowers Stadium. And instead of turning right, to do the out-and-back part towards U.S. 19, you continue straight, going south, down a little bit of a slope, turn left and run by the south part of the stadium and continue going east until you get to Bobby Marks Blvd. (The mile 2 marker is just before you turn left to head back to the Coliseum, where the start/finish area is.)

Then it is heading north before during three right hand turns around the block to the finish line.

Including two fairly stout inclines in the first three quarters of a mile, I posted a 9:30 mile to start off with. The second mile had a slight incline before coming up on the back side of Bowers Stadium, but was primarily downhill or level all the way to the Mile 2 marker. I clocked myself at 18:44 at this point -- a 9:14 mile two.

There's a short incline before you turn left onto Bobby Marks. Then there's a rolling hill with two slight inclines before the three right hand turns. I felt myself slowing down some, but I kept moving (fighting off the temptation to walk). And while I tried to pick up my pace and catch the individual that finished 23 seconds in front of me, I couldn't make it under the 29-minute mark.

I finished officially at 29:57. My stopwatch was 29:57.50. Again, though, a tough 5K course.

I did the calculations that I need to get under 29 minutes. 9:40 the first mile. 9:20 the second mile. Then, 9:54 over the last 1.1 miles -- or a 9:00 pace. That would give me a 28:54 mark!

After the race, I joined Ken Johnson, his son, Tim and True and Esther Collins for breakfast at the IHOP near Interstate 45. (Cafe Texan, on the square in downtown Huntsville, was closed.)

I'll see Ken again in two weeks at the hp Houston Marathon. Hans Jaegar, who I saw in Washington, D.C. at the Marine Corps Marathon, is going next weekend to the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon. In March, he said he'll be running the Little Rock Marathon.

I'll miss the club's next event on the 29th of January as I'll be doing the Mardi Gras Run 10K in Galveston. However, I should be able to attend their next 5K on Sunday afternoon, February 27th at 2 p.m.

New Running Information at WalkSports.com

http://www.walksports.com/rtwagegroupbests.htm

I took the massive data compiled by Thomas McDonough of the 120-race Run The Woodlands 5K Series and determined yearly and monthly bests on a per age group basis.

During 2005, I'll add another page that will maintain a Top 10 for each group.

I'll probably be doing the same type of compilation in 2005 at the major distances (5K, 10K, Half Marathon and Marathon) for my club, the Houston Striders, and to track the best performances by HARRA members.

Thursday/Friday Run/Workout

I don't know if it was 23-mile run on Sunday, the hard 5 miles on Tuesday or the lack of any work in the gym, but my run on Thursday afternoon in my neighborhood stunk! Or at least it felt that way. I tried covering a new path, which I'll measure later.

I started out at 3:59 on my watch. Ran 18 minutes, walked 1. Ran 12 minutes, walked two. Then I finished running the last 16.5 minutes. So 49.5 minutes overall. My thighs felt as tight as anything, which may have also been from the fact that I didn't stretch too much either.

On Friday afternoon I went to Bally's at about 5:30 p.m. I worked on the elliptical trainer at Level 14 (Random) for 47 minutes and 15 seconds. I was working out on a very light stomach. I went out to the truck and drank some Powerade then came back in and worked on the stationery bike. I biked fairly hard at Level 7 (Random) for 42 minutes and 35 seconds.

I capped off the evening bringing in the New Year at the movie theater watching Ocean's Twelve. Off to Huntsville in the morning for my first event of 2005 -- the Seven Hills Running Club's New Year's Day Resolution Run 5K. It is a timed event and I told Ken Johnson that I'd get up and run a few events with them this year. He had invited me to do their event on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but I told him that if I didn't go to the TAPPS state championship football games in Waco that I was committed to the Houston Striders' Tour de Memorial.

2004 Who's Who!

Who are some famous people that I met in 2004?

1.) All-time USA running great Bill Rodgers at the Little Rock Marathon Expo in March.
2.) Runner's World columnist John "The Penguin" Bingham at the Indy Mini-Marathon Expo in May and later again at his Chicago Distance Classic in August.
3.) Legendary Houston running enthusiast and visionary Tom McBrayer at one of the packet pickups for the Oshman's 25K. Visionary in the sense that he created what is now known as the hp Houston Marathon Warm-Up Series.

Who provided some quiet motivation this year?

1.) Seven Hills Running Club president Ken Johnson. After signing up to do the Houston Halliburton International Half Marathon last July, I looked to do a half before then to sort of measure myself. I looked at the Huntsville Half, the White Rock Half and the Motive Bison Stampede. I e-mailed Ken, who is a great guy by the way, and he said if you can't finish the distance in 2:40, you should consider not coming. I didn't. I did the White Rock Half, finished in 2:50 and found out later that he was right. The Huntsville course was tough!
2.) My consulting manager where I work at, IMA Consulting, Inc., Chris Karman. At our last staff meeting in September, he had seen the September 2004 Stridelines article and made the following comment: "If you are looking towards my second marathon, you'll never finish the first one."

But these folks are ones who were very memorable throughout the year:

1.) The regulars at the Run The Woodlands 5K Series, including series creator Don Drewniak. I never once felt like I didn't deserve to be there because I ran a 30-minute 5K. Some of those that I see a lot? Tom Phinney, Jeff Westergen, Ann Leoni, Debbie Tripp, Lou and Nora Wilson, Tom McDonough, Ken Johnson and Hans Jaeger are just some of the individuals that I've gotten to know very well over the last year.

2.) Steve Shepard and the Houston Striders. After making a comment online stating that I was thinking about joining the Striders, Steve took the opportunity to aggressively seek out whatever information I needed about joining the club. The personal attention confirmed what I thought about the group all along! Steve also recommended joining Power In Motion.

3.) Power In Motion coaches Lee Greb, Saara DeWalt and Megan Clark-Dillingham, as well as co-directors Lisa Ruthven and Pam Paling (as well as many of the other coaches). Twice during hill workouts, when I was one away from completing the higher number of trips up the hill near St. Thomas, Megan said, "I'll do the last one with you." Also Joan O'Connor was standing on the hill calling out my name as I charged up the hill! Can't beat that type of support and encouragement!

4.) Little Rock Marathon co-race director Gina Marchese Pharis. I met her at the Houston Marathon Expo and she really displayed her salesmanship. I told her that I wanted to do the HEB Texas 10K Challenge, which had the Bayou City Classic 10K the day before, and she said, "I want you do to your challenge, but I also want you to come and do our event!" I went, visited one of my high school classmates, Jerry Wild, and had a great time and set a PR on a tough course in the process.

5.) San Marcos Running Club president David Alexander. A nice guy that I had a chance to meet at the completion of their first annual Country Roads 10K in September. He answered all of my questions about the event before I ended up making the drive to San Marcos early on a Saturday morning. Nice event. Tough course.

6.) Karen Thibodeaux of Karen Thibodeaux Photography. A lady who does great work (just had placed a Christmas order) and is always an encouragement to see at an event.

7.) A friend of mine, Shelley Stephenson, who I met online and actually ran with in Akron in March while I was working on a project in Youngstown, helped me be able to actually run four miles at once without stopping by listening to my breathing while we ran. By the first of May, I ran 2.5 miles of a 5K in Lakewood, Ohio without stopping en route to a then 30:04.5 PR. Shelley and her family later moved to Houston where she ran in the USA Space City 10 Miler and the Huntsville Half Marathon with me.

8.) My co-worker, Rob Jones at IMA Consulting, Inc., who co-owns the Chester County Running Stores in Downingtown and West Chester, Pa., was actually an early inspiration in 2001 when he came down to Houston and ran in the first Compaq Marathon. It was the year that there wasn't any large prize money. Rob finished 20th. His personal best is 2:38 and ran Boston, Grandma's and Philadelphia this year.