HARRA Cross Country Relay Race Report

Hmmm ... this report might be a work in progress!

However, the best line of the evening came from HARRA Membership Director Erin Foley, while we were working and manning the HARRA tent together. I'm not even sure who came up and said "Hi!" and she said, "You really do know everybody, don't you?"

No, of course not; however, I'm blessed to have a lot of friends and acquaintances.

The other good one came from HARRA president Anna Sumrall Helm. She said something to the effect of "How many races do you do in a year? 100?" I told her I did 61 one year, but I quickly remarked that this was the second weekend in a row that I didn't race. And actually, it will be three in a row next week as I'll be staying in Whistler, British Columbia (for work). Anna is coming back off of an injury and was doing her first since the spring.

(Note: I had thought about going to Dallas in the morning to do a 20K; however, I'll get in 12 miles in the morning with fellow HRBers.)

Seriously, I saw sooooo many people that I know. If I tried to mention everyone that I talked to, I might miss somebody! I'm just continuely amazed at the respect that people continue to grant me. I appreciate it. :)

More later!

Komen Race For The Cure 5K Race Report

The words "race report" usually means that I've run it, but I sat this one out!

I will say this: The turnout at this event is absolutely incredible! It seemed like the people never stopped coming in!

1,751 timed runners didn't and Houston's Sean Wade, 40, didn't disappoint. Since the Komen Race For The Cure 5K allowed male runners to participate in 2003, Wade has scored three (3) wins and a second place finish in the annual event to raise money for breast cancer research.

Wade blistered the course with a 14:58 showing on a hot day to break Gabriel Rodriguez's winning time last year of 15:01. Former Rice Owl harrier Adam Davis, 25, was second in 15:19 while Colin Wolfe finished third - and in the top three for the fourth straight year (three second place finishes and a third) - in 15:46.

Former St. John's School and Rice Owls star Kate Gorry, who won the event in 2003 in 17:17, returned for the first time and scored a decisive 30-second win over Shynae Godfrey and Kira Abercromby with a time of 17:54. Abercromby has suffered the same fate that Wolfe has with her third top three finish in four years. She finished second (17:34) to Gorry in 2003 and second (18:11) to Tanya Wright in 2004.

Channelview's Junior Mitchell broke off in the very early lead, but finished fourth in 16:20. Houston's Fred Miller was 5th in 16:37 followed by Pearland's Maximo Mendoza (16:42), Cornelio Garibay (17:04) and Yevgeniy Vinogradskiy (17:37). The 22-year-old, formerly of Farmington, MI, ran the Freescale Austin Marathon in 2005 in 3:01:04. (Later last year, he ran Chicago in 2:53:48.)

Barbara Stoll and Jacob Tonge, who finished 14 seconds apart, in 18:53 and 19:07, respectively, took the event's Masters categories. (It was the first time that I had ever seen Stoll before and I had an always good visit with an extremely personable guy in Tonge.)

The "Who Did I See?" hit parade today went as follows:

+ In the finish line area, Houston Marathon's Steven Karpas and Arlen Isham.
+ BCRR's Kathryn Vidal (32:50 chip time)
+ Good friend Ryan Stepler (24:06.45 chip), but I missed seeing his wife, Stacy (29:02.10)
+ Fellow HRBer Sarah Graybeal (32:23.95)
+ 4-year HEB Texas 10K Challenge finisher Richard Kerr, 70 (43:31.15)

Who did I miss on the course?

+ The Chronicle's Roberta MacInnis (24:05.45)
+ Luke's Locker - The Woodlands employee Mary Kerschbaum (27:21.40)
+ Run The Woodlands 5K 10-race club members Anna Shaughnessy (27:59.05), 12-year-old Shelby Hayes (21:09.50 .. wow!) and her dad, Brian (27:18.60).
+ 7 Hills Running club member Ryane Ganze (31:59.70)

Maybe more to add later!

Friday Morning Run

This was actually Thursday's scheduled run that was supposed to be a 2-to-3 mile recovery run from the speed workout on Wednesday night (well, and Tuesday too.) I had spent some time in the UH library earlier that evening so I drove over to Memorial Park to get two loops in -- 5.8 miles. The library closed at 12:45 a.m. so I probably started running at 1:15 a.m.

The first loop came in 30:17.91. (When I finished, I had really begun to hurt quite a bit in my lower back, which may be causing some of the other problems that I'm having in my left leg.)

I walked to the 3-mile marker, back to mile 0 marker and went the other way, but slowed it way down. I ran slowly the entire time and finished in 33:39.67 (still well within that 11-12 mpm target but more than a whole minute per mile slower.)

The rest of Friday was complete rest and by this morning when I woke up at 7 a.m. to head downtown for this morning's Komen Race For The Cure 5K. But after I had been on my feet for about two and a half hours, I still have some pain below the waist in the middle of my back.

I have miles to get in today and tomorrow, but we'll see how it goes.

An Old Interview with Texans HC Gary Kubiak

A few summers ago, the coaches at Houston's St. Pius X - Gary's alma mater - asked (now Houston Texas head coach) Gary Kubiak to come to town and do a coaching clinic for private and parochial high school football coaches. I had the chance to ask Gary a few questions. I almost had taped over this interview after talking to Gerardo Mora on tape during the Fired Up 5K. So I transcribed it and thought that I'd share it with everyone.

What's attributes from your days here at St. Pius X have helped you have success even today?

I think I learned a great value going to school here. The athletics was tremendous. There were great coaches and stuff, but the academics I received every day and my faith being part of my every day experience of school, I think made me a better person every day. And I try to continue that on with my kids. My kids attend Regis Jesuit in Denver and I just think it is a great positive atmosphere. The one thing that I know when I left home years ago to go off and do my thing, so to speak, my dad didn't ask me to do a lot of things, but he said, "I want you to make sure you put your kids in a Catholic school." I'll never forget that and I know it did a lot for me and hopefully it will do a lot for my kids.

A lot today is made in high school athletics here in Texas with public and private schools so there was never any doubt in your family that you'd attend a Catholic school because you were there in the middle school already.

That's what I grew up in. I went to Christ The King, which I don't even know if it is open anymore to be honest with you. I grew up in that evnironment and my mom and dad working extremely hard to send me and my sisters to the school because it is a financial commitment as well. Like I said, it is just a tradition that I want to carry on and I've been a few places because of coaching in San Frncisco and Devner and College Station, but my kids have remainded in private schools throughout.

What keeps you as personable and humble as you are?

I think it has a lot to do of where I come from. I have a true appreciation for the people that have helped me along the way. I love ... this will always be home to me and my roots. Just driving around the north side these last couple of hours and come in here today, I mean this is what I am and I'll never change. This is what I love. This is what I am. This is where I grew up and I'll owe this community and the people here a lot because they're responsible for me. I'll never forget that.

There's been a lot of talk about, with you being an offensive coordinator now for quite a few years, and where is the next big step for Gary and that's not my question, but what is the right opportunity and the right situation for Gary Kubiak to make that next step?

I don't really know to answer it bluntly. I'd love the opportunity to be a head coach. That's why we do what we do, but I also have a great appreciation for what I'm doing. I love my work and I'm a football coach and my kids have basically have gone to one school and not many football coaches can say that. That's worth a lot to me and anything that I do will have their best interests in mind. I'm not going to bounce all over the country and do that to them. I want to coach football. I want to teach. I want to have a great time doing it. But I also want to make sure that those three kids grow up in the best environment they can grow up in and if that means Dad having to sacrifice a little bit more than them, that's ok, that's what I feel like I should do.

Articles on History of Houston Running and the Marathon

If you're a history buff and particularly of sports, like I am, we have Tom McBrayer to thank for a couple of gems.

Tom, as many know, is a course certifier and he writes articles for a publication called "Measurement News" that is put together by the USATF/RRTC (USA Track and Field/Road Running Technical Council).

In the fall 2006 edition of their newsletter (click here), there is an article from Tom about "A History: The Many Courses of the Houston Marathon" and also another from Pete Teague, the founder of the Houston Marathon (who lives in Austin now), on "Some memories of early running days in Houston."

They're both excellent reads and if you don't want to download or read the PDF file, you can go the this page on the Houston Masters Sports Association web site.

College Football Weekend Ahead

Man, Penn State actually played pretty valiantly last weekend against No. 1 Ohio State -- that is, until the interception return for a touchdown that broke the Nittany Lions' back. This week, the Nits play host to Northwestern, who are still reeling from the loss of their head coach, Randy Walker, just two weeks before the season.

Of course, Penn State fans are never happy. In today's Centre Daily Times, columnist Jeff Rice calls for cooler heads to prevail:

Most want a quarterback change. Some want a coaching change. The wise few who preached patience were labeled apologists or Kool-Aid drinkers.

To all of you -- the incensed, reactive, sophomoric prophets of doom; the no-less-irritated but far more reasonable and rational diehards; and even those who can say no wrong about Joe Paterno or his team for fear they'll be covered in boils -- I say this:

Relax. There's a long way to go.

More fans are down (way down) on the Lions after a mostly well-played game against a very good team in Columbus than were after an all-around miserable performance against a pretty good team in South Bend, and they simply shouldn't be. Penn State is growing up, getting better each week, and that should become apparent (if it isn't already) during the next few games.

But ah, isn't that what has the prophets of doom so steamed in the first place -- the weekly assertion by Paterno, his team and his staunchest supporters that Penn State is young? Ohio State is young, they cry, that didn't stop the Buckeyes from climbing atop the polls after losing nine starters from their defense.

Remember, though, that Penn State, with a 230-pound hammer named Tony Hunt, showed some soft spots in that Ohio State defense, just as the Buckeyes exploited the Lions' current weakness -- their potential-loaded but ineffective passing game.

This is where the anger has its roots. Blaming Anthony Morelli, quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno (a favorite target of many Penn State fans) or a combination of both has become an hourly pasttime.

All that will be said here about this subject, which has been beaten several times to death but is only really getting started, is this: Morelli has played poorly, but he has been the starter for four games. If Kerry Collins and Michael Robinson had been on the same sort of leashes fans would like to strap on Morelli, there would be no Big Ten championship banners in the Lasch Building.

Why the panicking, Penn State fans? The tough part is over with. Northwestern comes to town Saturday looking like the cure to a lot of ills, and the rest of the schedule isn't much scarier.

Minnesota (2-2) has wins over powerhouses Kent State and Temple, and losses to No. 20 California and Purdue. We'll better know what the Boilermakers (4-0) are made of after they visit South Bend this Saturday.

Wisconsin (3-1), always tough in Madison, is playing hard for Bret Bielema but is about as dynamic offensively as Penn State was in Columbus.

Illinois is changing quarterbacks and, oh yeah, lost 33-0 to Rutgers. Temple is, well, Temple.

Michigan State? The Spartans, the collapse of the season already in their back pocket, haven't won in Beaver Stadium since ... 1965. Anybody remember Bubba Smith?

That leaves those hated Wolverines. On Oct. 14, Michigan returns to Beaver Stadium for the first time in five years, quarterbacked by one Chad Henne, a central Pennsylvania high school star who left Penn State in the recruiting lurch three years ago.

It is the Lions' only marquee regular-season game remaining in 2006. It's another prime-timer. Take the atmosphere for last season's Ohio State game and add the anguish of seven straight losses to Lloyd Carr. It doesn't guarantee a Penn State win but should make for some entertaining football.

How many wins will it take to cease the wailing, to reassure you that Penn State is still "elite?" Eight? Nine? They are there for the taking. So too, with some help from the Wolverines and Iowa Hawkeyes, is a second straight league title. It will take some improvement, sure, but Penn State could run the table even if Morelli doesn't develop. Its defense is that good.

There you have it, "Life In Not-So-Happy Valley"!

And the big sucking sound you heard last night was TCU's BCS hopes being wiped out last night when BYU beat them 31-17 in Fort Worth.

Here are some thoughts for this weekend's games:

+ Rutgers goes to 5-0 tonight with a win over South Florida. (Yes, a Friday night game. South Florida beat them last year by 24, but USF barely beat Florida International recently. Rutgers head coach is a former Penn State assistant to Paterno.)
+ Army pounds Rice by more than the 11-point line. (This isn't a stretch by any means. Army's hungry in playing their third Texas team this year and Rice's collective head may not be in the game after the passing of Dale Lloyd.)
+ Texas by 50 over Sam Houston State. Enough said. Sure everyone will be healthy for Oklahoma, but you call this a tuneup? I think I head SHSU is on Oklahoma's schedule next year. Rhett Bomar playing opposite the Sooners in Norman in '07? Oh boy!
+ Miami over Houston. As much as I'd love to see the Coogs beat Miami, I just don't see it. I hope I'm wrong though. Maybe if Kolb has a huge game on ESPN2 and they win, he moves into a long shot Heisman opportunity.
+ Notre Dame over Purdue and cover the spread. Sure, Purdue is 4-0 but three wins are against Indiana State (best known for hoops), Miami, Ohio (Frank Solich doesn't have the Huskers line there) and Ball State.
+ Texas Tech beats the Aggies. Not that I'm a big Tech fan, but I'm certainly not an Aggies fan. (Sorry, Steve, Christy and Lance.) The Aggies are favored by 2. I just don't see it. I'll go with the over on the 350 yards passing number by the Red Raiders.

This week's matchups that make you go, "Huh?" --

+ North Dakota State at Stephen F. Austin, South Dakota at Central Arkansas and South Dakota State at McNeese State (There must be one happy travel agency in those parts! And it isn't that cold there yet, is it?)
+ Central Michigan at Kentucky (Heck, don't be surprised if Central Michigan wins this.)
+ Eastern Illinois at Hawaii (Spring break comes early for Eastern Illinois.)
+ Wyoming at Syracuse (Isn't it Wyoming that needs a Dome at home?)

Alright, back to running!

128 Races in a Year? Read Below

As I was searching for something else on the Internet this morning, I came across a bio of Vera Balic's Dad, Boris (pictured above at the Fairhaven Runners Waterfront 15K in Bellingham, Washington), that was included in Arlen Isham and Jack Lippincott's summer 2003 edition of Houston Veteran's News.

It seems that Boris is a bit more interesting in what I learned from him while I was in Bellingham! Here was the bio in that newsletter (as he was a pacer during the 2003 marathon as was my good friend, Bill Dwyer) --

Bo-reeece! He’s a marathon-runnin’, soccerplayin’, rope-skippin’, Yugoslavian boxer (or is it the other way around…??) This man is truly one of a kind. Not just a gifted athlete, but a loving husband to his wife, Romana, and a devoted father to Dusan and Vera. Mr. Balic has been a fixture on the Houston road-racing scene for many years. It took him awhile to get here, though…

Boris started running in 1950, as a soccer player back in his home country. He later took up boxing, and fought for the Yugoslavian national team in 1959. In 1960 he moved to Germany, and eventually boxed for THAT national team as well. He came to the U.S.A. in 1976, but not before spending 12 years in Canada, where he was eventually crowned as a Canadian national champion lightweight boxer.

Shortly after coming to the states, however, he hurt his hand while sparring. At that point, he gave up boxing and took up running for its own sake. And boy, did he take it up in a big way!

Though Boris didn’t try a marathon until 1979, his eventual best times were 3:12’s at both Houston and Dallas, in the early 1980’s. He also had serious PR’s at all of the popular distances, including 18:52 for the 5K, 39:54 for the 10K, and 2:09:54 for the 30K. He qualified for Boston as a 50-year-old, with a 3:17 time, and has run at least 56 marathons and ultra runs, including 22 Houstons.

None of this may sound particularly unique, but listen to this. During 1979, Balic competed in 72 races of various lengths, placing him second in a contest put on by Inside Running magazine. Boris doesn’t like second place. The next year, he completed 128 races, to convincingly win the contest. But, that’s not all that sets him apart from the rest of us “semi-normal” distance runners. In 1983, he “skipped rope” through the whole Houston marathon! Seems like that race should count at least twice… Say hello to the man next time you see him. He’s got some stories worth hearing.

No Water While Running A Marathon?

According to page 6C of the Houston Chronicle on Monday, January 22, 1996, that is exactly what men's winner Turbo Tumo did!

Those keeping close watch on the leaders may have noticed that men's winner Turbo Tumo was perhpas the only runner in the lead pack who did not drink any liquids during the race. While that is unusual for most runners, it apparently isn't for Tumo.

"I never drink water when I'm running," Tumo said. "That's how I practice so that's how I do it."

And what time did Tumo run that year? 2:10:34. Just 30 seconds off of the course - and state - record of 2:10:04 held by Richard C. Kaitany, the South African then from Ames, Iowa.

Brammer puts up 5th Sub-3 Hour '06 Marathon

Katy's Steve Brammer, now 55, won his age group Sunday, September 24th at Toronto's Waterfront Marathon with a time of 2:58:52.4 (gun).

It is his 5th sub 3-hour marathon of 2006! With the help of marathonguide.com, here are Brammer's results from this season:

2:58:42 -- Chevron Houston Marathon, January 15th (54)
2:54:29 -- Freescale Austin Marathon, February 19th (54)
2:57:08 -- 110th Boston Marathon, April 17th (54)
2:56:59 -- Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon, April 30th (54)
2:58:47 -- Toronto Waterfront Marathon, September 24th (55)

Katy's Cindy Laidlaw just narrowly missed slipping under 4 hours at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon as she recorded a chip time of 4:00:20.6 (gun time of 4:02:43.4).

And, of course, Canada's Ed Whitlock did it again!

It appears that Ed Whitlock's 3:08:34.5 at the age of 75 will set an all-time record for any marathoner of that age. According to the Association of Road Racing Statisticians (ARRS), Whitlock's time will defeat that of Italy's Luciano Acquarone and the United States' Warren Utes. Acquarone ran 3:10:57 at the Carpi (Italy) Marathon last October (on a point-to-point course) while Utes posted a 3:18:10 in the 1995 Chicago Marathon.

Whitlock now holds the best time ever for the ages of 68, 69, 70, 72, 73, 74 and now 75. (Oregon's John Keston holds the all-time record for a 71-year-old.)

Wednesday Night Run at HARRA's Power In Motion

Given that I was in Houston this week, I e-mailed HARRA's Power In Motion co-director Jack McClintic to see if I could come out and run with one of the PIM groups. He said, "Certainly." But there was a catch -- I needed to speak for a few minutes about being a PIM alumni from the Fall of 2004.

I was more than happy to oblige. I attempted to indicate to those newer folks that the things that they learned and would gain from Power In Motion would indeed benefit them. I specifically spoke about the fact that PIM is where I was exposed to speedwork and hill training and that it was where I really began to build my "running family", if you will.

I met Jack's co-director, Tom Radosevich, for the first time this evening. (Tom's responsible for submitting Bayou City Road Runners' club report for Footprints.) We had a good conversation before the program got started. I had actually known who Tom was at least from when I flew home from the Lincoln Half Marathon last May 1st, which is where I met Steve and Paula Boone.

I also had a chance to meet Joe Oveido from the Tornados as well as fellow HARRA Board Member Sarah Troscher, who took over the Member Discount program.

Some of the many coaches and speakers tonight are friends of mine -- Andrea Chan, Joan O'Connor, Audrey Christiansen, Dr. Bob Hoekman, Tom Stilwell and Ted Traynor. Others that I recognized were Jen Brown of the Tornados and Felix Lugo of Luke's Locker. (I was really pleased that Andrea, Joan, Tom, Jack and Ted all took time to speak to Waverly. If you want me to do something for you, treat my kid nice - because she IS a good kid!)

Dr. Bob basically spoke this evening about Hydration - which is the subject of his "Running With Dr. Bob" column that will appear in the October edition of Footprints.

I told Jack that I wanted to run with one of the "I can run for three miles or more" groups, which meant Fitness, Gu or Hydration. On his list of coaches and paces, Gu had "9-10:30 minute per mile". That was me.

I should have looked at the schedule online but my 3 miles for the evening, which should have been a recovery run, turned out to be a half-mile warmup, 2 miles of Fartleks and another half-mile cooldown.

The group of 12-to-13 runners had three sub-3 hour marathoners - Tom, Jack and Ted - and Felix running with us. I started out strong and out in front for the first two sets of two light poles each. (I remembered from the 2004 Fall PIM session that this was when I really found out how fast Saara Dewalt was!)

I then quickly migrated back to the last pack of 3-to-4 runners, but by the last four to five sets of two light poles-at-a-pop that I was in front of that group most of the time.

There was actually a runner, Janet Gillespie, from my Fall 2004 PIM session. It was good to see her! (I saw her right before they asked me to speak and I couldn't remember her name!) She and her boyfriend were going to run the Aramco Houston Half Marathon this coming January.

I also saw Houston's Richard Kerr, who I know is just over 70 BUT he has done every single HEB Texas 10K Challenge race in all four years of its existence! He's taking part in Power In Motion this session.

Surfside Beach Marathon and Half Registration Open!

Date: Saturday, February 10, 2007 8 AM
Surfside Beach is calling you back!

Now that we have safely made it through hurricane season, we are opening our registration for 2007!

Thank you for making last years Surfside Beach Marathon and Half Marathon a success! As a participant in last year's race, we are giving you the first opportunity to sign up early and receive an early bird discounted price of only $40 (to the first 100 registrants!). (When it asks about how you heard of this, select "Other" and put in "Houston Running Blog"!)

This year's race will again feature -
- A Unique shirt to commemorate the event
- Surfside Marathon and Half Marathon stone drink coasters
- Custom designed finisher medals
- Our imaginative Age group awards (this year with a Texas beach theme)
- Texas BBQ after the event
- Our 26.2 miles of uninterupted beach -
- Friendly helpful volunteers
- All the sand you can carry home (kidding)

We especially thank our sponsors again this year, OverNite Software, and ConocoPhillips, and the Village of Surfside Beach for making this event possible!

We invite you to sign up for our third annual event, and hope to see you again in Surfside Beach, Saturday, February 10th. Click on the link to register now!

Daryl Beatty
Race Director, Brazosport Area Road Runners Association

Reed beats Karnazes at Boulder Backroads Marathon

The following is an excerpt of a Monday article in the Denver Post about Sunday's Boulder Backroads Marathon --

In another gender bender, this one involving high-profile ultra-runners, Pam Reed edged Dean Karnazes and earned $500 for charity. Karnazes has embarked on a highly publicized quest to run 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states, with Backroads his eighth outing. Reed was in town to promote her book, so Backroads race director Lesley Kinder put up the charity donation to entice Reed to run.

Reed finished 100th overall in 3:46:42, with Karnazes 14 seconds behind. Reed and Karnazes have been portrayed in some media accounts as rivals, but they were friendly Sunday.

"You were awesome," Reed told Karnazes moments after he finished.

"I tried to chase you down," Karnazes said. "You're a rabbit."

Reed, of Jackson, Wyo., was impressed Karnazes ran so fast in his eighth marathon in eight days.

"I'm amazed," Reed said. "I could do them, I think, but I'd have to go a lot slower."

Karnazes, who lives in San Francisco, would have posted a better time if he hadn't gotten to the starting line late. When he got out of a porta-potty minutes before the start, he was surrounded by fans seeking autographs.

"I walked out of the bathroom and there was, like, 20 people there with books," said Karnazes, who signed several. "I'm surrounded by love."

Tuesday Night Run

When I saw my friend Bill Dwyer at Run The Woodlands 5K Saturday morning, he told me about the Ten 4 Texas training group from Luke's Locker workout Tuesday night at Knox Middle School in Oak Ridge. I said that I might come out even though it might mean juggling the days on the schedule for this week - which is basically a repeat of last with a couple of more miles on the weekend long run.

Since it was a combined workout with Team Woodlands Team In Training, I had a chance to visit a little bit with TNT's Carol Steele and pro triathlete Kim Hager, who works with Bill and Debbie Tripp in working with the Ten 4 Texas group. (Carol is doing her first triathlon this Sunday at Try Andy's Tri!)

The workout called for 5 miles on the track getting progressively faster each mile.

Well ... with a half mile warmup, I logged 4.5 miles for the night followed by 30 minutes on the stationery bike at Bally's on the way home. (Maybe talking to Kim rubbed off on me a little bit!)

Bill wanted every one to hit the first mile in between 9:30 and 10 minutes.
And what did I go and do? 9:35.11. Nothing like hitting the front end of things.

I basically maintained it for mile 2 with a 9:40.24, but let it slide in the third mile to 10:01.68 before admitting that I wasn't ready to try and push through mile 4 and 5 at the same pace. Which is kind of nuts because I've done it before in races -- and this was a speed workout!

I threw in a last mile of 11:26.77 as a little cooldown (6:03.12/5:23.65) to have posted three miles in 29:16.92 and four in 40:43.69. (I've got some work to do as I ran 29:15 for 3.1 just two Saturdays ago, but it was a little cooler too.)

Here are the splits:

Mile 1 -- 2:20, 2:23, 2:26, 2:26
Mile 2 -- 2:27, 2:22, 2:24, 2:27
Mile 3 -- 2:32, 2:32, 2:28, 2:30

What you can't see in the numbers is that in the middle of mile 2, I caught a runner in front of me after Bill said, "That's Sharon if you catch up to her." Well, heck, I took it as kind of a challenge. When I caught up to her at the end of lap 7, it was kind of like waving a red flag at a bull. Coming out of the first turn, she poured it on. (She later said that she saw that she had been slowing down and decided to speed it up. Well, that she did.)

Through 2 miles, I was second and in the third mile, three of the TNT runners who are training for Houston in January passed me as they executed the entire 5-mile workout flawlessly. (Two of them had done RTW before so I knew what their times were and didn't feel bad at all.)

After the 3rd mile, I kind of mentally shut down. Chasing Sharon in laps 6 and 7 and then losing her in lap 8 kind of sucked the steam out of me.

Still a good workout overall, but plenty of work to do.

1st annual Houston Marathon Coverage

Curious as to what the coverage was of the 1st ever Houston Marathon was back in December 1972 when the town had two (2) newspapers - Houston Chronicle and the Houston Post?

Well, I can share it with you right here! I was in the library Sunday night beginning my effort to build some data on the Houston Marathon like the Chicago Marathon has for its media guide. (One of the first things that I'm trying to do is to confirm all of the wheelchair winners and I've already been in contact with those that would have a knowledge of this and the fact is - nobody is sure when the wheelchair race started.)

The Chronicle's coverage (Section 3, Page 6, December 31, 1972) was a photo and this caption:

Entrants in the first annual Houston Marathon chug down Memorial Drive at the start of a 26-mile, 365-yard course
Danny Greene, 24 years old, won the event in 2:32:33, to lead Cameron Track Club to a 1-2-3 sweep of the race. One minute and 20 seconds behind Greene was teammate Clyde Villenez, Jr., 26. Thirty-one-year-old Wayne Comer of Cameron finished third at 2:38:28 to win the 30 to 39-year-old age group. Two 18-year-old Rice students, John Lodwick and Jeff Wells, hit 2:38:44 to tie for fourth place. Forty-year-old Joe Burns of New York City finished eighth to win the 40 to 49-year-old age group while Galveston's John Fernandez, 51, finished 24th to win the 50 and over age group.

Yes, that was it!

The Houston Post (Page 3B on the same day) was a little bit better including spelling Coach Green's name right:

Danny Green of the Cameron Track Club won the Houston Marathon Saturday afternoon in Memorial Park, covering the 25-mile distance in two hours, 32 minutes and 33 seconds.
Clyde Villemez, Jr., also of Cameron, was second -- about a minute behind Green.
Cameron TC was the team trophy winner with a perfect one-two-three finish. Terlingua Track Club was second.
Wayne Comer, 31, Joe Burns, 43, and John Fernandez, 50, were the age group winners.

1.) Green, Cameron, 2:32:33
2.) Villemes, Cameron, 2:33:53
3.) Comer, Cameron, 2:38:23
4.) Lodwick, Rice, 2:38:44
5.) Wells, Rice, 2:38:44
6.) Harrington, Terlingua, 2:39:34
7.) Roadhead, Unattached, 2:41:47
8.) Burns, United A.A., 2:46:47
9.) DelaCruz, Unattached, 2:48:10
10.) Kraus, UH, 2:49:40
11.) Wismar, Unattached, 2:51:05
12.) Kenyon, Unattached, 2:51:34
13.) Owers, Terlingua, 2:55:03
14.) Kornrowicz, State Col., 2:55:12
15.) Picken, Terlingua, 3:00:03
16.) Brown, Las Vegas, 3:03:40
17.) Davis, Dallas, 3:06:24
18.) McCroy, Sacramento, 3:08:51
19.) Kevlin, Am. Nat.,3:11:39
20.) Taite, Dallas, 3:15:56
21.) Latham, Howard Payne, 3:17:40
22.) Hughes, Unattached, 3:17:51
23.) LaBouve, Unattached, 3:18:31
24.) Fernandez, Am. Nat., 3:18:32
25.) Hockman, Terlingua, 3:19:34

When's the last time that you saw the winner of a major marathon win while wearing a baseball cap the entire way? Well, it wasn't a major marathon then, but that is exactly what 23-year-old Ron Tabb had on when he won the 1978 Houston Marathon in 2:17:11 - breaking Jeff Wells' then-course record of 2:17:45.7 from 1976.

1978 was the first year that the course was not run in Memorial Park. The course description was as follows: "The course will cover 26 miles beginning on Sabine Street near the Fonde Recreation Center and finishing on Walker Street at the Sam Houston Coliseum."

And it was also the year that then 47-year-old Al Lawrence, a 1956 Olympic bronze medalist, finished 41st and ran his first marathon since 1960.

The Woodlands' Hager takes 2nd at Redman Triathlon

When I asked the question on this blog, "How far would you drive for a half marathon?", my friend Bill Dwyer shot back a question, "How far would you drive to do a half Ironman?"

35-year-old pro triathlete from The Woodlands, Kimberly Hager's answer was "9 hours" as she drove to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma last Friday to compete in the 2nd annual Redman Triathlon on Saturday, September 23rd.

Using the race as a tuneup for Ironman Florida, scheduled to take place in Panama Beach, Florida on Saturday, November 4th, Hager finished the half distance (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run) in 5:06:49.

Hager was 3rd among all females in the 1.2-mile swim in 37:42, 2nd in the 56-mile bike in a time of 2:51:59 and tops in the half marathon run (her strength) in 1:34:41.

Beating Hager by just under nine (9) minutes in 4:55:52 was 31-year-old Norman, Oklahoma resident Christina Wolfe. Wolfe, who moved to Oklahoma from California with her husband, Justin (who narrowly won the men's Full event on Saturday in 10:24:09), finished 2nd in the same race a year ago in 5:41:22.

Wolfe, who sliced 14 minutes off of her bike time from a year ago and 31 minutes off her run - despite a career best 1:31:30 in Oklahoma at this year's OKC Memorial Half Marathon, was completely gracious about her win and of her competition.

"I think much of the improvement I've enjoyed this year has been due to much better and more consistent training, especially on the bike," said Wolfe, the Collection Manager, Herpetology at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. "I have a long ways to go, though, to be competitive on the run with talented women like Kim Hager (she looked liked she was running effortlessly!)!

"This past weekend was a great race for me," she added. "I have had a good season this year, and it was a lot of fun to be able to finish it with a decent performance at a half-ironman (a distance that I've struggled to figure out pacing issues with in the past).

"Last year's time was incredibly slow - race day was quite hot with high humidity - and it was also my first year in Oklahoma. Although I'm doing better in the heat, I still am figuring out how to race well in tough conditions."

Wolfe went on to say that while she hasn't completed a full Ironman she may consider it for 2008.

Much of that motivation comes from the fact of her husband's first Full effort on Saturday and as she said, "put together the race of his life to win."

A couple of other notes from the greater Houston area includes:

+ Pearland's Andrea Zepeda, 38, went from finishing 3rd in the Half last year (5:51:50) to taking second in the Full this year (12:43:41).
+ Friendswood's Jana Landry, 53, co-owner of On The Run in Clear Lake, won the Female Masters division in the Full in a time of 13:37:12.

Wade finishes 3rd in USA Masters 10K

PASO ROBLES, Calif. - Dennis Simonaitis (Draper, Utah) won his second USA Masters 10 km Championship and Sylvia Mosqueda (Resemead, Calif.) captured her first masters championship at Sunday's USA Masters 10 km Championships in Paso Robles. The Championships were hosted for the fourth consecutive year by the Heritage Oaks Bank 10K.

Two-time 10 km national champion Simonaitis, 44, successfully defended his title, running 30:31 to win by 13 seconds over Paul Aufdemberge, 41 (Redford, Mich.). Danny Martinez, 44, (Alhambra, Calif.) was third in 31:34.

"I’m totally ecstatic and I didn’t expect it," Simonaitis told the San Luis Obispo Tribune in their Monday, September 25th edition. "The field was stacked this year, and I was just hoping for an age-graded win but I happened to be in the lead."

The Tribune reported that pressure on Simonaitis from other competitors was a new twist to the race as he won his last two championships relatively uncontested.

"He was pushed and had a better time this year than last year (30:59) because there was some stiff competition," race director Mitch Massey said. "Dennis now dominates the downtown streets of Paso Robles."

Although 40-year-old Houstonian Sean Wade, wearing bib #99, finished 3rd overall in 31:04, he wasn't included in the USA Track and Field press release surrounding this paragraph because he must not be a current member of USATF. (This is a similar situation to what occured during the 2006 USA 10K Trail Championships in Vail, Colorado when trail-running star Matt Carpenter won the event but was not eligible for the championship or the prize money because he wasn't a USATF member.)

Running his second worst time of the season at the 10K distance, Wade said on his blog at kenyanway.com that he "did not run well at all in this race" and possibly attributed the effort, ran in what he called "perfect conditions", to effects from his altitude tent.

"I had noticed my resting heart rate was not as low as usual but my workouts continued to go well," Wade said. "I will stay out of the tent for a few weeks and try to keep motivated to train hard."

Wade returns to action on Saturday, September 30th at Houston's Komen Race for the Cure 5K - a race he lost to Gabriel Rodriguez last year. No word if Rodriguez, who has moved back to Houston from Miami, will be back to defend his 2005 title.

In the women's race, Mosqueda's, 40, time of 34:36 was good for a 29-second victory over Michelle Simonaitis, 40, (Draper, Utah), while Lisbet Sunshine, 42, (San Francisco, Calif.) rounded out the top-three in 37:00.

Winning masters in other age divisions in the national championship include:

40 -44
Sylvia Mosqueda (Resemead, Calif.), 34:36
Dennis Simonaitis (Draper, Utah), 30:31
45 - 49
Kimberly Fanady (San Francisco, Calif.), 40:33
Ivan Huff (Pas Robles, Calif.), 32:36
50 - 54
Nancy Fiddler (Crowley Lakes, Calif.), 38:29
Fletcher Lesley (San Francisco, Calif.), 35:46
55 - 59
Debbie Dorney (Arroyo Grande, Calif.), 52:41:58
Gary Romesser (Indianapolis, Ind.), 33:59
60-64
Nelly Wright (Pacific Grove, Calif.), 48:06
Perry Hayden (Reno, Nev.), 39:22
65 - 69
Melody-Anne Schultz (Ross, Calif.) 47:08
Neal Chappell (Stateline, Nev.), 42:26
70-74
Giovanna Schaefer (Grover Beach, Calif.), 1:16:23
Bernie Hollander (Novato, Calif.), 53:39
75-79
Ed Reyna (Sunnyvale, Calif.), 58:34

The 8th annual Heritage Oaks Bank 10K featured $26,000 in masters prize money with $1,800 each for the overall national champions and $2,500 for each men's and women's top age-graded runner. The age-graded tables provide a relative way to compare times for runners of different ages.

For more information on the 2006 USA Masters 10 km Championships, visit www.usatf.org.

Tuesday's Musings and Upcoming HARRA Fall Series

Well, it seems like there might just be a slight temperature drop from the last two years for this coming Saturday's HARRA Cross Country Relay.

No, I'm not running it. I'm more than happy to sit this one out.

Could I have gotten myself on a team? Yes, if I wanted to bad enough, I certainly could have.

I'm looking forward to getting out and socializing with everyone and continue to work on material for future editions of Footprints. I saw the draft of the October version yesterday and I'm pleased with how it looks. Lee Sheffer with Inside Texas Running again is a layout God! I have a general idea of where I want things to go and how they'll look, but Lee does the magic.

I was extremely pleased with the content and the layout of September's edition although in reality we probably had a little too much content.

We've backed off of that by about 20% for October. But again, I hope that you all are pleased with the product.

As far as this Saturday goes, I'll help Erin Foley out in the HARRA tent processing all of the last-minute memberships and renewals so clubs can score team and club points in the Fall Series competition.

The following is my personal view and doesn't reflect the opinion of HARRA or anyone on the HARRA Board. It is mine and mine only.

Granted. This isn't a story that is fit for Footprints because 1.) it is quite controversial and 2.) you wouldn't be able to get anybody speak on record about it.

However, I think many rank and file members of some clubs would be alarmed to find out that their club's leadership actually pays the HARRA membership fees for certain faster runners so that they will just "show up and run" and score the all important team points to better compete in the Series -- without even an expectation that they even officially join the club itself.

You might call it "gaming the system".

Certainly you could join HARRA, pay your own fees and designate any club to score points for.

I have no idea if these clubs write a club check out for 'x' number of runners to HARRA. I personally don't care if they do, I really have no burning desire to find out and I'm not going to go poking around trying to find out. I have other things to worry about. But, of course, the way to circumvent this is to have the individual pay their HARRA fees and to reimburse them directly once provided with a receipt.

So if on Saturday, you see somebody running for your club that you've never ever seen before maybe the most interesting question would be, "When did you join?"

Have a great Tuesday!

10.11-Mile I Caught You Looking Run

I know what you were doing. You had been checking all day to see if I would get my long run in on the first week of my Houston Marathon training.

You probably thought I had thrown in the towel already and made some excuse about why I couldn't get it done. Well, you might have almost been right!

The original plan was to go to San Antonio this morning to run the Army Dillo Half Marathon at Fort Sam Houston; however, when the alarm went off at 2:45 a.m., I decided that I didn't feel like driving all that way. (It isn't the first time I've ever done that, but I probably needed the rest.)

However, the perceived rest didn't translate into the type of training run that I'd like to have had late, late this Sunday evening (turning into Monday morning). I was underfueled and not hydrated enough, but nonetheless the schedule said, "8 to 10 at a 12 minute per mile pace" and darned if I wasn't going to get it done.

Since I needed to be close to the house at all times, I decided to do the approximately 1-mile loop that is in the front of the house 10 times! (Yes, I just loathe multi-loop of anything - maybe except for Fruit Loops.) When I mapped it, it turned into a generous 1.011 miles per loop.

So the 10.11-mile run went off in an unimpressive 1:52:22 - 11:06 per mile. Unimpressive for me, but perfectly fine for my coach!

70% of the run is on concrete and 30% of it, along FM 2920, is on nice, soft asphalt. The concrete in my subdivision, Hannover Forest, always seems punishing. It may have also been the pair of Brooks Beast that I was running in too.

Anyways, here are the ugh! splits -- 10:46.97, 10:53.62, 11:04.23, 11:14.71, 11:19.14
11:16.55, 11:19.75, 11:28.13, 11:30.37, 11:28.81

As I was working on the fourth loop, I said to myself, "Well, half way to the minimum that I need to do." But I tried to think that these were the last 10 miles of a marathon -- 16 to 26. (And, yes, I did the math. The first 16 miles at 10 minutes per and the last 10 miles at 11 minutes per gets to 4:30, but we'll save that for later.)

The good thing? I ran the entire way.

The other reason for the slight, but steady slide is that I didn't fuel up after any loop either even though I had fluid sitting there on the truck in the driveway.

So 22.51 miles for the week after putting in 12.4 the weekend before is 36.91 miles over 8 days with 6 runs.

U.S. Athlete Development Project Comes To Houston

U.S. Athlete Development Project Comes to Houston
Chevron Houston Marathon to support 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials hopefuls

Contact: Steven Karpas, (713) 957-3453; skarpas@chevronhoustonmarathon.com

HOUSTON - (September 24, 2006) - The Houston Marathon Committee, in partnership with Greg McMillan of McMillan Running Co., Inc., is proud to continue its support of U.S. distance running by launching the U.S. Athlete Development Project at the Chevron Houston Marathon, to be run Sunday, January 14, 2007.

Designed to help emerging U.S. talent attain a marathon qualifying time for the Olympic Trials preceding the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Project will bring as many as 100 of America's top developing male and female distance runners to the 35th anniversary of the Chevron Houston Marathon.

"We are thrilled to add the Project to our commitment to U.S. distance running," said race director Brant Kotch, "and to help dozens of rising new stars achieve their dreams and get to the Olympic Marathon Trials. Coupled with the 2007 USATF Men's and Women's Half-Marathon National Championships, also to be run here over Marathon weekend, the Project will definitely make Houston the place to be in January."

Begun at the 2006 Austin Marathon, the program will continue to provide logistical and financial support to athletes who have met an established marathon time standard. Additionally, runners who achieve an "A" or "B" qualifying time at the Chevron Houston Marathon will receive financial incentives from the Houston Marathon Committee.

"Houston is the perfect venue for runners looking to get their qualifying standard," said Greg McMillan, who coached Kelly Keane to victory at the 2005 Houston Marathon. "In addition to ideal January weather conditions and phenomenal crowd support, the course is renowned for being one of the fastest in the country."

Additional information, including how to register for the U.S. Athlete Development Project, is available by contacting Greg McMillan at: greg@chevronhoustonmarathon.com

The Chevron Houston Marathon, a Running USA Founding Member, is the nation's premier winter marathon, annually attracting participants from all 50 U.S. states and more than 30 foreign countries. The race will celebrate its 35th anniversary in 2007. The marathon offers the only closed marathon course in Texas and is ranked among the top five in the nation by the Ultimate Guide to Marathons for fastest course, organization and crowd support. More than 5,000 volunteers organize the race, which is Houston's largest single-day sporting event. More information is available online at ChevronHoustonMarathon.com or (713) 957-3453.

Weekend Racing Notes

Hats off to HRB and Bay Area Running Club's Joe Carey for another slice off of his half marathon PR earlier today in Boulder, Colorado at the Boulder Backroads Half Marathon. Carey dropped his time from last month's America's Finest City Half Marathon in San Diego by almost three (3) minutes as he checked in today with a time of 1:52:59. (The Woodlands' Lou Wilson, 70, ran the Boulder Backroads Marathon in 6:36:35 - still good enough to win his age group.) My guess is that Joe will easily push the 4:20 envelope in Houston in January -- JW.

Speaking of the Clear Lake area, On The Run Racing Team's Rudy Rocha made his debut appearance at Run The Woodlands 5K #162 Saturday morning a victorious one as he defeated five-time winner Alex Zuniga by 12 seconds to post a 16:36, post-injury win. 12-year-old Shelby Hayes was the women's winner in a time of 22:19. (Lou's wife, Nora, 50, was the third female overall with a time of 22:59.)

Not sure how he does it, but San Antonio's Laurence Macon, 61, ran the Nordic Track Top of Utah Marathon on Saturday in 5:45:53.9 and then the 29th annual Clarence Demar Marathon in New Hampshire the following day in 6:06:08.

Saturday's Tour des Fleurs 20K in Dallas, an inaugural event, had 747 finishers while the 10K had 915. It will most likely be fifth of six (6) 20Ks at the end of the year when ranked by Running USA-RRIC. The Koala Health & Wellness Centers / Luke's Locker 20K here in Houston, which was second in 20K, will fall out of the list as it becomes a half marathon in 2006. Two familiar names were at the top of the women's charts in that race -- Frances McKissick, 44, of Irving won in a time of 1:29:10.5 while Austin's Margo Braud, 47, of Austin, won the Masters division in 1:33:06.2. Flower Mound's Andrew Cook, 25, won the 10K in 32:41.

The Urquhart family of Arlington settled family bragging rights at the Tour des Fleurs 20K as 12-year-old Calvin crossed the finish line first in a gun time of 1:45:58. Mom - aka Sharon, 47 - took second in 1:47:05. Calvin's 14-year-old brother, Andy, was third in 1:49:39 while the boy's father, Roy, 48, took up the rear in 2:04:56.

Former Spring Westfield high school star Nichole Jones continues to make a name for herself right off the bat at Baylor University. Saturday, at the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational in St. Paul, Minnesota, Jones finished in 16th place overall in 21:49. Former high school superstar from Plano West, Erin Bedell, a sophomore, was 22nd in 22:03. Jones is the women's all-time course record holder at Run The Woodlands 5K while a 10-Race Club member, Jacob Jones (of Willis HS), who runs for Baylor's men's team, finished 82nd (of 301) in 26:10. Baylor's women finished 3rd overall. Rice's women were 13th overall with The Woodlands John Cooper School's Nicole Mericle running in 52nd in a time of 22:38. Her Owl teammate, Marissa Daniels, a junior, finished two spots ahead of Jones.

More to come including Sean Wade's effort at today's USA Masters 10K Championship and The Woodlands' Kim Hager's surprise appearance at Saturday's Oklahoma City Half Redman Triathlon.

Friday / Saturday Update

My training schedule called for 2-to-3 miles Thursday night; however, it was suggested to me that I skip it (since I did my Wednesday workout real early Thursday morning) and rest on Friday.

I did both as Friday was a travel day back from Vancouver. Normally, I would go to the gym on Friday night, but some events at home precluded that. (Thursday night, I didn't get out of the office until about 9:15 p.m. After getting to the apartment and taking care of a number of things, I went outside walked for a half hour, got a bite to eat and then walked another half hour to get out and see a little bit of the city at just after midnight.)

The plan this morning was to do Run The Woodlands 5K #162 and make my 8-to-10-mile long run tomorrow. But I forgot to plug in the timing machine that Luke's let me use from the last race, so that meant that I needed to time the race in the background (i.e. write down times). I have no problem volunteering whatsoever. So while Waverly, Susie Schreiber and Becky Issac handled registration, I got out for a 2.51-mile run on the roads that circle the trail that RTW is run on.

(I was able to map it accurately with the USATF online tool as opposed to the HARRA tool. The version of the map that the HARRA tool uses isn't either as updated or as defined in certain areas - or both.)

The schedule said something about a 12-minute per mile pace unless I'm racing, but I was just running and did it in 25:28. Which I didn't consider to be too bad finishing up at approximately 7:45 a.m. - and just before it really started to get hot.

I was asked, jokingly, of course, by the individual helping me to get ready for Houston if I was one of those runners that if they put "4 to 6 miles" on the workout that I'd do six (6) and I said, "Yes!" Well, today, I only did 2.5!

After the race, Waverly and I went to a middle school cross country meet at Cloughton Middle School and by the time we got there the 7th grade boys and girls had already run. We saw both of the 8th grade races and I got a chance to meet Waverly's math teacher (who is also the cross country coach) and her first PE teacher (who is the track coach) before her schedule was switched around. It was continued good exposure for her if she wants to run for her school next year (and she actually asked to go to it).

We got a bite to eat at Paul's Pizza Shop at Kuykendahl and 2920 and we're heading to my niece's birthday party here shortly. More later!

Can Lance BQ in NYC?

Here's the article today on Fox Sports:

http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/5986560?FSO1&ATT=HMA

AP's story stated, "He thinks he can finish within one hour of the winner, and has done 6 1/2-minute miles in training."

Lance's quote was this, "The longest run I've done, I think is 13," he said. "I better do a longer one soon. Probably not a bad idea."

He's a world-class athlete. What do you think? (And, sorry, no "cheeseball" comments allowed!"

Wednesday Night ... err Thursday AM's Run

I asked the question, "If you get in your workout before the sun completely comes up, can it be counted for the day it was supposed to happen?"

The answer came back, "Log it as Thursday morning and if you run tonight, take it easy. Probably should not run tonight, still take Friday off and run a stronger RTW." Well, Friday is a travel day and I'll probably do something with Waverly Friday night anyways once I get home.

All day Wednesday here in Vancouver, it was rainy and coming down fairly steady after dinner (nice salmon sandwich) when I made it back to the apartment around 8:20 p.m. And the workout called for some sprints. I was kind of concerned trying to "comfortably sprint" in the rain, plus I didn't want to do the workout on the treadmill, which I hate.

So I tucked it into bed early and was out the door around 5:30 a.m. this morning on Thursday

Wednesday's schedule called for: "4 - 6 miles. 10:15 per mile pace with 3 x 20 second strides every 5 minutes beginning at 10 mins." It also said, "Aerobic run. RPE: 4. This is somewhat strong, around 80%."

I was out for 1:01:27 on my watch and with some inclines - steeper than yesterday (up Davie St. from Denman, if you know Vancouver) in the last 15 minutes. My guess will be about 5.5 miles when I map it later in the office. It is hard to run in Vancouver's Central Business District without encountering an incline somewhere.

So there were four (4) scheduled 20-second sprints. I felt real strong on all of them except the last one. (Well, the last one before I added a fifth one myself.) The first three probably lasted more like 30 seconds since I didn't have my watch set to beep or anything, but the last one was just barely over the 20-second mark. I was ready for it to be over.

While I was running, I thought a little bit about the goal at hand - 4:30 - but I quickly told myself that I had 78 more runs to worry about getting through before I could think about whether or not I had a shot of making it. A lot of it is about the work and preparation, but some of it still has to do with shedding a little weight or continue converting it to muscle that doesn't inhibit whatever it is that I call speed. :)

(Update) Here's the route. 5.919 miles over 1:01:27 for a pace of 10:22. Just a tad bit off the goal pace of 10:15, but the goal pace may not take into account that incline on Davie!

Lost Runners on the Trail

The following was shared recently by Ken Johnson, president of the Seven Hills Running Club which is hosting the 28th annual Huntsville Half Marathon on Saturday, October 21st. (A perfect place to get some hill training in within a race!)

"My son, Ranger Tim (Johnson), who works at the Huntsville State Park, called me from the Park about 9:30 p.m. tonight. He said that he and a park policeman just rescued two trail runners (guy and a girl). Tim said that he heard someone yelling for help over by the dam. He got a park police officer and they took a boat over to the dam. The couple said that they were running "Ken's Course" from the Seven Hills Running Club web site, starting at 5:30 p.m., and got lost. On the way back in, Tim told the guy that Ken was his Dad. The guy said, "Tell him his course sucks."

I e-mailed Ken and asked him if I could share it, and this was Ken's response:

"Sure, Tim didn't get their name. They were around 30. Just before they picked them up in the boat, Tim saw an alligator in the water. When the couple got into the boat, the guy said that they were about to swim across the lake."

Huntsville State Park 'DRAFT' Trail Management Plan

PUBLIC INPUT REQUESTED!
Deadline for Comments: September 29th, 2006 at 5:00 p.m.

Huntsville State Park is requesting public comment on its newly developed DRAFT Trail Management Plan. The purpose of the Huntsville State Park Trail Management Plan will be to serve as a working document that will provide guidance and direction for the future of Huntsville State Park's trail system. Goals and objectives of the plan will address visitor experiences, enhance trail connectivity, protect natural and cultural resources, increase sustainability, develop environmental education opportunities, and guide park operations – with the overall vision of developing and maintaining a world-class system of trails for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.

Remember, the deadline for comments is September 29th, 2006 at 5:00 p.m.

Please provide written comments to:
Huntsville State Park Trail Management Plan
Attn: Chris Holm, Park Superintendent
P.O. Box 508
Huntsville, TX 77342
or email us your comments.

Thanks to Ken Johnson of the Seven Hills Running Club for passing this along.

HARRA Membership to 1,262

According to the September 18th online membership listing update on the HARRA website, there are currently 1,262 members! Here is the club-by-club breakdown:

383 -- No affiliation -- Jill
214 -- HS (Houston Striders) -- Holden, Bill, Jessica, Cassie, Steve, Vic and June
190 -- BCRR (Bayou City Road Runners)
79 -- ALRC (Al Lawrence Running Club) -- Erin
58 -- BARC (Bay Area Running Club) -- Joe, Sarah
51 -- TTC (Terlingua Track Club)
43 -- TOR (Tornados)
40 -- HMSA (Houston Masters Sports Association)
39 -- HF (Houston Fit) -- James, Jaclyn
25 -- FBF (Fort Bend Fit) -- Jan
25 -- FLS (Finish Line Sports)
20 -- HH (Houston Harriers)
15 -- TWRC (The Woodlands Running Club)
13 -- RH (Runner's High)
10 -- GLWY (Galloway)
10 -- KF ( Katy Fit)
8 -- KW (Kenyan Way)
7 -- CLFC (Clear Lake Fitness Club)
5 -- PARC (Pearland Area Runners Club)
4 -- IFRC (Inflight Running Club)
4 -- BAF (Bay Area Fit)
4 -- BARRA (Brazosport Area Road Runners Association) -- Edwin
4 -- MPRC (Memorial Park Running Club)
4 -- PTI
3 -- TNT (Team In Training)
2 -- HRB (Houston Running Bloggers) -- Jon, Waverly
1 -- USAF (USA Fit)
1 -- HF/TOR

Tri Andy's Tri Volunteers Needed

2006 Try Andy's Tri is upon us, and volunteers are needed!!!

1. Packet stuffing on Sunday, September 24th, at Finish Line Sports from 2 p.m. til 4 p.m. Ten (10) are needed to stuff 700 packets.

2. Five (5) days of packet pickup from Tuesday, September 26th to Saturday, September 30th. Pat Nelson needs help with passing out the 700 packets. Any hours are helpful and the busiest times will be on Friday and Saturday.

3. Race morning, Sunday October 1st, at First Colony Aquatic Center, 4350 Austin Parkway at Crosslakes. Volunteer check-in at 6:45 a.m. at table in front of Aquatic Center with Pat Nelson. Body marking and chip pickup starts at 5:45 a.m. Need 150 voluneers at least.

Thanks for your help with this tough task. Hundreds will be experiencing their first triathlon and thousands will be given to local charities, primarily Cenikor.

-- Andy Stewart of Finish Line Sports

Free "Effective Use Of A Heart Rate Monitor" Clinic

Are you making the most of your workouts?

USAT certified coach and past USAT National Masters Duathlon Champion Dana Lyons will give a free 30 minute presentation on “Effective Use of a Heart Rate Monitor” and teach you how to integrate heart rate training into your workouts making them more structured and effective.

An endurance athlete for over 30 years, Lyons -- http://www.coachlyons.com/ -- has represented the USA at several ITU World Championships and has successfully used a heart rate monitor for the past 20 years.

This clinic will take place in three locations:

Monday, September 25th -- 10:35 a.m. and 7:45 p.m.
South Montgomery County Branch Crossing YMCA
8100 Ashlane Way, The Woodlands

Wednesday, September 27th -- 10:45 a.m.
South Montgomery County Shadowbend YMCA
6145 Shadowbend Place, The Woodlands

Saturday, October 7th -- 9:00 a.m.
Tri On The Run
5535 Memorial Drive, Suite B, Houston

Nike+ Truck in The Woodlands

From Luke's Locker - The Woodlands store manager Susie Schreiber,

"We have a great event occurring at Market Street this Saturday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Nike is bringing their Nike+ Truck for you to try out their latest invention for free.

"The Nike + Truck will be in Central Park at Market Street. This is an interactive vehicle in which runners can come try out the Nano Ipod and Nike + shoes. The Ipod receives information from a device that is placed in the bottom of Nike+ shoes. It will read how fast you are moving, tell you how far you have gone and keep you entertained with your favorite music.

"The Nike+ Truck is equipped to let you try out the system for free.

"Come on by and take a test run or walk. If you have any further questions, please contact us 281-419-0326."

And make it a day of it by coming out early and running Run The Woodlands 5K #162 at 8 a.m. at Barbara Bush Elementary.

The First of 80

I woke up early this morning to find in my e-mail box the first four (4) weeks of my plan to try and get to 4:30 in the Chevron Houston Marathon next January. And before I rolled out of bed, the first day - Monday - I was already successful because it said, "Off!" How's that for a positive spin! :)

Actually, I was pretty excited. I thought about things during the day. I'm sure a lot of you are reading and wondering, "Why now? Why not earlier?" Well, I've had the opportunity to do so in the past, but I just wasn't ready to receive it - or listen. I've said all along that I'm a "do-it-myselfer."

I think the big thing here for me is that if I have somebody that will set out a structured plan with knowledge of how to get me to where I want to be, it is incumbent on me to follow it to the best of my ability. And on any other night before 10 p.m. here, I would have rolled over and gone to bed. But I had a schedule. I had somebody that put time into thinking about how to get me there. Guess what? Time to go do it!

I also figure that if I do five (5) runs a week, which has been unheard of for me all of this time, for the next 16 weeks, I'll have put in 80 runs before "Marathon Day".

The schedule for today said, "2-3 miles, 11 min per mile pace. Aerobic run. RPE: 3."

What does '3' mean? It was communicated to me that '3' meant -- "Moderate: Easy run, sweating, can still hold conversation." Hmmm ... Tonight's run was fairly easy. My legs still felt a little dead, but I think a little of it was the shoes too. I'm not sure if I picked up an older pair of Brooks Beast or not. I perspired a lot and I could have chit-chatted most of the time.

On a run like this, I'm wondered to myself how I felt so comfortable Saturday and Sunday racing pretty hard and not the same tonight.

Everyone has seen my comments about running for 2-to-3 miles. Really, it's tough for me to do. Actually when I feel that way, I should just do (when I'm home) the Run The Woodlands 5K course - and go home!

So what did I do? I figured 20 minutes out and come back in. The official numbers were as follows:

Out -- 19:42.61
Back -- 21:04.32

No surprise that there was a gap on the return because the last 7-to-9 minutes is a slight incline back to the apartment (enough to know that it is there). And on this route, which I ran, it was just a shade under 2 miles. So that means that I ran a little bit faster than what I was supposed to, but I wasn't trying. Really.

There's some other roots that I need to get back to and one of those resonates in the following verse, "I can do all things through Christ who strengths me." (Phillipians 4:13)

College Football Weekend Ahead

Well, it was kind of fun seeing Michigan beat Notre Dame handidly last weekend. Most of Happy Valley was feeling the same way from reading the Centre Daily Times -- the local paper in State College, Pennsylvania.

Things don't get any easier for the Nittany Lions though as they'll battle the toughest team in Ohio -- No. 1 Ohio State -- to kickoff the Big Ten campaign after easy wins against Akron and Youngstown State. And the Nittany Lions have drawn ESPN's popular College GameDay program for the third time in their last 10 regular season games.

ESPN announced Monday the program, with host Chris Fowler and analysts Lee Corso (former Indiana coach) and Kirk Herbstreit (former Ohio State signal caller) and contributor Desmond Howard (former Michigan WR) will originate Saturday from Columbus, Ohio, site of Penn State's clash with top-ranked Ohio State.

Penn State will leave Columbus, much unlike 1978 when Penn State shutout (19-0) a Woody Hayes-coached team, 2-2.

The only other game that involved two ranked opponents (other than PSU/OSU) is #22 Arizona State at #21 California. (I personally just can't get excited about Pacific-10 football.)

Here are some ugly games on the scorecard this weekend:

+ Buffalo at #2 Auburn
+ #4 West Virginia at East Carolina
+ Middle Tennessee State at #17 Oklahoma
+ North Carolina A&T at Louisiana-Lafayette
+ North Dakota State at Ball State (this is certainly an odd pairing)
+ Southeastern Louisiana at Texas Tech
+ McNeese State at Toledo (another odd pairing)
+ Tennessee State at Vanderbilt (short road trip, but an odd pairing)

Some other things to look for perhaps:

+ Don't be surprised if Nevada beats Northwestern at home Friday night.
+ I think Army and Baylor could be a great game in Waco.
+ Do the Aggies really think they'll get ready for Texas Tech with their third lightweight opponent of the year in Louisiana Tech? The Ags might walk away 4-0, but the thud to 4-1 by the Red Raiders will be pretty hard.
+ Let's go South Florida over Kansas on the road (after beating Central Florida last week).
+ Has Marshall ever played in front of 100,000 fans before like they will this weekend at Tennessee? I doubt it.
+ Houston Cougar fans think that QB Kevin Kolb can get back in the Heisman race with a big win at home over Oklahoma State. I don't think he was ever in it to begin with.
+ SMU might get another win this week against Arkansas State.

Your thoughts?

Training

Everybody has been complimenting Vic Kaiser about his eyes in the picture from Run The Woodlands 5K about a month ago, but he should also be noted as being "eagle eyed" and "inquisitive".

I made a reference in my 5K race report from Sunday about having somebody help me come up with a plan to try and get to 4:30 in the marathon. And I personally know I have to change a lot of things to do that! Vic asked in the comment of the post who the individual was. I was going to respond in the comment; however, I felt like I should make a separate post.

My agreement with the individual is that I plan to not disclose anything in case I can't stick to the schedule that they put out there for me. Because I don't want that person to be viewed upon negatively if I fail.

I have too much respect for the person - for their knowledge and simply as a friend to even have them linked with somebody failing.

The individual has a challenge because I like to race a lot (and it is where I gain a lot of information from people that way ... i.e. it aids my ability to put together a good Footprints product and RTN column) and my travel.

My biggest challenges, I think, are consistency, moderation and planning.

The individual agrees that I need to get my half time down to that 2:02-2:04 range to have a shot given my penchant for sliding in the back half by about 10% - but we might be able to change that.

My goal for Saturday in the 15K was to run as steady as I possibly could throughout the race - and I honestly believe I succeeded at that. If I can run that steady - and the weather cooperates, the next standard that could fall is my 1:41:42.8 in a 10-Miler.

What's cool about this entire process is that I have a lot of you out there pulling for me to be able to do it. 4:30 is a big nut to crack, and quite frankly, it may be too much to expect to drop from 4:47:32. But look at where I came from to where I am today. It is a long way and it could be even longer -- it just depends on how bad I want it.

I e-mailed a good friend of mine this weekend, Whitney LaRocca, and asked her what her marathon PR was. She said that it was in Houston and it was 4:34:09. Whitney really had a nice Austin Marathon like I did -- and she confessed after meeting each other at the finish that she really didn't want for me to beat her (and I didn't!).

So there you have it! :)

What I'm Listening To ...

Some of my fellow Houston Running Bloggers spice up their blogs with music that they're listening to while running - or doing other activities.

And as many of you know, I like country music as much (if not more) as I like running.

Some of my favorite songs on the radio these days are George Strait's "Give It Away", The Wreckers' "Leave The Pieces", Sugarland's "Want To", Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" and Jack Ingram's "Love You".

There are three (3) songs that hit particularly close to home. The first is a song that is #12 on the charts and is from a new group called "Heartland" and their current hit, "I Loved Her First". The second is Tim McGraw's latest at #31, which I heard for the first time tonight driving towards the U.S./Canada border, called "My Little Girl."

The one that isn't on the charts yet, but is getting a lot of airplay is the latest from Sara Evans. It's called "You'll Always Be My Baby", but the first verse of the song always brings a few tears to my eyes (especially when I'm away from home). If you've ever seen me out with the "red headed princess", you'll understand when you read these lyrics:

There I was ten years old
Waiting in my room for him to come home
I just knew he'd be so mad
Though I begged my mother not to, she told my dad.
There was no denying I let him down
But instead of being angry
He put his arms around me and said

In the sunlight or the rain brightest nights or darkest days
I'll always feel the same way
Whatever road you may be on
Know you're never too far gone
My love is there wherever you may be
Just remember that you will always be my baby.

Actually, though, I can honestly say that that scenario in the song has never happened at my house with my daughter. However, it did happen without the same results when I was growing up - and it was something that I vowed to do different when I became a father. :)

Now for a bonus point or two, what country song from the past started out with the words, "When I became a father ...."?

Elephant Stampede 5K Race Report

No, no, they didn't name the race in my honor since I came to run it today in Seattle, near the University of Washington!

The 10th annual Elephant Stampede 5K today was put on by St. Bridget Church Parish and it benefits a school in the achingly poor parish of Namitembo in Malawi, Africa. Because of the support towards this event in years' past, teacher housing, new water supply system, a community center, a secondary school and a high school have been built as well as building additional classrooms and upgrading current facilities. 2006's proceeds were going towards building a trade school where villagers can learn crafts and skills to become more self-sufficient.

I blew off driving two and a half hours for the Komen Race for the Cure 5K in Portland, Oregon as sleep was much more needed -- and enjoyed I might add. I had gotten breakfast at about 9 a.m., came back to the hotel, checked out by 11:30 a.m. and made it to the race site by 12:20 p.m. for a 1 p.m. race start.

I really wanted to do the Terry Fox Run today in Vancouver, but I really needed to get out of the city for the weekend. So I still got to help a good cause one way or the other.

Start time temperature was 66 degrees with a good breeze blowing in off of Lake Washington. The race was held in Warren G. Magnuson Park, which is very close to a large N.O.A.A. facility.

Everything that I checked online showed that pre-registration had been $20 with an additional $5 required the day of the race. No problem. When I showed up and filled out the on-site registration form, however, it was $25 and $30! I just chuckled and kept writing out the check (#8919) - thinking to myself that they sure do know how to raise money.

After going back to my car and putting my bib number on, I went to warm-up and check out the course a little bit. I had some doubts about whether I should be running this; however, I didn't have anything better to do -- and I didn't want to get back here any sooner than I had to.

The other funny registration item was a thing on the form asking if you wanted a time or not. There was a box to check that said, "No, I'm doing this for fun!" It actually said that if you wanted a time it would mean that they would have fewer dollars to give to the charity because the timing was an expense. (They were using a handheld cross country timer and a tear tag system - just like at Run The Woodlands 5K.)

Since they didn't have the 3-mile marker set, I walked off 528 feet from the finish line so I would have an idea where to try and make my last strong push from.

The race didn't get started on-time (about 15 minutes late) and any of the public address announcements (using a hand-held megaphone) could only be heard by less than 30% of the people because that is how far I was up in the pack because of the abundance of walkers and folks with strollers. (Some of which I had to contend with for the first 500 yards. In fact, I went out faster then what I wanted to early on because of that -- plus there were 3 little tykes that kept running in front of everyone from left to right.)

So how did I do today after running a 15K yesterday at my half-marathon PR pace?

Well, I have to say that I was pretty pleased -- 29:15.27! (And, yes, I believe that the distance was right and that the mile markers were on the money.)

Mile 1 -- 9:04.46
Mile 2 -- 9:28.54 (18:48.22)
Mile 3 -- 9:47.53 (28:35.75)
Last .1 -- 54.74

Final -- 29:30.49 - 15.22 = 29:15.27

My left hamstring that's been tightening up on me a little bit didn't seem to bother me -- meaning I felt like I could really plant strong with my left leg. The course was flat with some changes in terrain - meaning some light gravel in places. It sort of reminded me of Sarah's race, the Yuri's Night 5K, at Challenger Seven Park in Webster -- but without the large hill that she sadisticly puts everyone through.

So other than the cool weather, what has been part of the change? Not sure other than the fact that I have cut out the sodas completely. I haven't even had a diet drink since last Monday at about 1 a.m. Its been all water with some orange juice in the mornings and chocolate milk after both of my runs Wednesday night and Saturday morning.

But with times like these, I'm pretty pleased and they sure are a confidence booster.

And they will come just in time as I get a schedule to start working from -- and working with somebody to help me get to where I want to be -- and that is as close to 4:30 in the marathon that I can get. (I realize that I'll need to get to the 2:02-2:04 half marathon time to realistically have a shot at 4:30, but that's my goal. Now it's time to see if I can hit it.)