Thanksgiving greetings and other things before 2019 slips away

Yesterday I got back into the groove of racing with a fairly informal event here in the Energy Corridor. The Nottingham Forest Club hosts a Turkey Trot adjacent to Buffalo Bayou. Thanks to Tropical Storm Harvey's flooding, the event went on hiatus. It was great to see this event benefiting Family Point Resources return this year. The course wasn't certified and felt longer than a true 5K and I got back to the start area in about 33 minutes.

It's been a real quiet 2019 on the racing side of things. Back in April I was pleased to have Houston Running Calendar join as a sponsor of the Spring Dash benefiting West Houston Assistance Ministries. And in January I did make it back to the Aramco Houston Half Marathon and even posted my fastest time on that course in years. I guess I just hadn't felt motivated to blog about those as they were happening. Now my attention turns to the 2020 Aramco Houston Half, because of course I'm coming back. I have a streak to maintain. I may or may not try another "tuneup" event before then, but mainly I know I need to focus on training volume -- a.k.a. time on my feet -- as race day approaches.

This week I bought a pair of Asics Gel Kayano 26. It was like coming home after seven months on a dalliance with a pair of 361 Strata 3.  I actually surprised myself when I figured out that I had put more than 400 miles on the Strata 3 -- no wonder my feet were aching a bit too much after runs. I had stayed with them a bit too long after totally beating the stability out of them! I have made the decision to go with the familiar Kayano model from now through the Aramco Half.

So that's it for now. I'm still running. Happy Thanksgiving. Happy Holidays (assuming I don't feel like blogging again before 2020).

Welcome, 2018!

My favorite course marker sign from the HMSA Classical course

As I woke this morning, I got a twinge of no-blog guilt and decided to pop in this brief update. It's been six months since Harvey struck Houston. Rebuilding is still happening all around in flood-damaged areas, but normal life has resumed.

In that time I was able to muddle my way through a training regimen, running the HMSA Classical 10 Miler in November in preparation for the Aramco Houston Half Marathon in January. Neither event was remarkable performance-wise but I'm mostly grateful that I'm still  out there to run each year.

Since the Aramco Half, I think I was really ready for a shift and haven't done much exercise-wise really. Now it's March and I can't really use chilly weather for an excuse to stay in. So now I find myself scanning Houston Running Calendar for something fun to do this spring.

2017 Houston Double

On the Thursday before race weekend, I decided to register for the ABB 5K. Saturday came and I loped the out-and-back course from Discovery Green through Midtown to almost the HCC campus and back in a chip time of 38:01. Basically, I just wanted to finish without risking injury or expending a lot of effort. It was kind of cool to claim the Houston Double medal once, but I can't say that I'd choose on my own to run this 5K again. For those not ready to take on a 13.1- or 26.2-miler, however, I think this is a nice way to participate in the marathon weekend experience with the finish line party in Discovery Green, the pumped-up start line music, and the race announcer hyping the finishers crossing the line.

Saturday night I put myself to bed early enough to miss what I understand was a very disappointing second half by the Texans in their playoff loss to New England. Impressively, my body stirred itself awake before what I thought was an aggressively early alarm setting on Sunday morning. For the second year in a row, I was taking advantage of Metro's offer of free rides for bib-number-wearing participants. As my bus rumbled through the darkness closer to downtown, a couple more runners boarded. After taking care of pre-race tasks, I walked out to the E Corral, which didn't depart the start line for more than a half hour after the initial gun.

I've blogged about the race day experience before, and everything I've said about it remained true this time -- excellent support from race volunteers and police officers on the course, entertainment and encouragement from spectators, and what I think of as the best of humanity with me on the streets. We ran under a "yellow flag" condition which basically meant that runners were encouraged to slow down due to high humidity and moderately warm temps that hung in the 60s thanks to overcast skies. My plan was to consume GU gel before gun time and then at the 3-, 6-, and 9-mile points. In addition, I took Gatorade from most of the aid stops in the early part of the course. I was mostly fine until I reached Montrose Boulevard. It seems to be always those miles from 8 to 10 where the length of the race finally tries to take my legs away, and then somehow I have to regain control of them before the finish line.

I finished in a chip time of 2:36:44, and had my second breakfast before returning home with my finisher medal and the Double medal. Thus this year's performance becomes my fifth fastest of 10 Aramco Houston Half Marathons. If I understand correctly, that tenth finish grants me "Legacy" status. I'm not that great of a runner, but now I guess I'm officially a non-quitter too.

2016 Aramco Houston Half Marathon

I made it back to the Aramco Houston Half Marathon again. We had "chamber of commerce weather" with an overnight low right around 40F, sunny skies and little wind. As for my own two feet, I can say I've been in better shape in the past as I rumbled myself around the course in about 2:40. Each year, I grow to appreciate the experience itself  more, especially since I knew I wasn't chasing a fast time. Impressions from 2016:

Most visually entertaining spectator group -- The group that dressed up like Robert Palmer and his band of pale-faced, black-dressed ladies from the "Addicted to Love" video. It was such a ridiculous sight in the Museum District and I had 80s flashbacks!

Loudest spectator group -- It's too easy to give this to the large finish line crowd. But earlier in the course the Katy High School band made quite the big sound. Yeah!

Biggest delight and annoyance -- These both goes to Metro. With the advent of the New Bus Network last August, this was the first Marathon Sunday where I could put expanded weekend service to the test. Prior to race day, they advertised that runners wearing race bibs would get free rides on bus and rail. Unfortunately when I boarded my early bus for downtown, the driver claimed that she was not notified of this, so I ended up using my Q Card because I wasn't going to let $1.25 hold me up from getting to the start line. The post-race went better, as the fare inspector on the Red Line train looked me over and called my fare good. In the days following the race, Metro customer service responded to the complaint I made online and made up for the early AM confusion with ride credit.

Overall, however, using public transit was great. Thanks to the marathon-related street closures, my driver was on a detour that conveniently took me to the side of downtown near the convention center, saving me several blocks of anticipated walking. When I stepped off the bus next to a lot that was charging $30 for parking I knew I had made an excellent choice. I could see myself leaving my car behind next time too.

Second-biggest delight: Post-finish-line crowd management. There was a noticeable meandering stroll from the finish line to the interior of the convention center, but it looked to me as a way of dispersing runners so no bottlenecks would form. After getting a banana and water the third and fourth items I was offered were ice cream sandwiches. Even before sitting down to the HEB-sponsored hot breakfast, I had taken dessert from one of several volunteers roaming around bestowing ice cream sandwiches upon us finishers. Yum!

Bottom line: I got my ninth Aramco Half finisher medal. Next year I'm coming back to claim Legacy status.

2015 Aramco Houston Half Marathon

A couple nights ago, I played back my DVRed coverage of this past Sunday's race coverage here in Houston. I did feel a wee twinge of disappointment at not seeing my wobbly lumbering image onscreen. But hey, the rational part of my brain able to calculate probability knows that one person out of annual crowds of 20,000+ can't be reasonably be expected to make cameo appearances every year, right?

On the plus side, ABC13 did a super job of getting more feel-good "everyrunner" stories from the community. However, the competitive coverage of the elites was awful. At one point, I wondered aloud, "Why do I have no idea how Meb is doing?"

Back to my personal run: This was my eighth Aramco Half finish. If I also count in my precious 26.2-miler in 2008 and the year I marshaled runners in the correct direction as a volunteer, then I just extended myself to a ten-year streak of Marathon Sunday participation on the course in one manner or another.

By CurrentlyVince standards this last half yielded an undistinguished chip time finish of 2:35:49. For most of the run I was well-positioned to break 2:30, but fatigue (read: sad lack of conditioning) began progressively dragging my pace down around mile 8. And a discomforting rub in the late miles eventually made me stop on Allen Parkway to remove my shoe and re-adjust one of my socks.

Gearwise, I did have a success story this training season with a prescription pair of goggles. Firmly strapped to my head and holding steady in front of my eyes, I had the best vision in-race I could recall.

I'm pretty close to Houston "legacy" status -- 10 or more finishes in same race -- that I can't think of a good reason not to sign up for 2016. I guess that means I can't slack too much now. Here's to a new running year. . . .

2014 Cinco Ranch Rotary Camo 5K

My last blog post . . . was for the Aramco Half? Really? Well, long time, no type.

Technically, I did do a race between then and today. In March I dropped in one evening at the Flash Mob Race Series. With a course very conveniently located, I was able to run to the start area, run three trail  miles in 31:09 and finally run home.

Now catching up with today's event: I ran the Cinco Ranch Camo 5K in Katy with a Garmin-recorded time of 31:15. I was able to knock out the first couple of miles in sub-ten-minute pace, then found myself rather winded so I ended up taking a walk break in the last mile. I was returning not only as a participant but once again as a race supporter. It's pretty cool to be wearing the race T-shirt with a Houston Running Calendar logo among the sponsorship smorgasbord on the back, and even cooler to know I've been kicking in support for the benefit charities of Team RWB and Special Buddies.

Farther ahead -- I've taken the lottery uncertainty back out of my life as far as the Aramco Half Marathon is concerned. For 2015 they introduced a "veteran status" for early registration eligibility as well as eligibility for those with five-to-nine Aramco Half finishes. So I jumped on that this week and re-installed a commitment device to stop me from slacking off running too much.

And now, back to life here 'round Buffalo Bayou.

2014 Aramco Houston Half Marathon

Nine Januarys of collectibles from Marathon Sunday in Houston

Yesterday morning felt like a fresh start to this "running thing." I ran the revised Aramco Houston Half Marathon course with a surprising energy, with a finish time the likes of which I had not seen in five years. Let's go ahead and get the split data out of the way:

Mile 01 - 11:18
Mile 02 - 10:43
Mile 03 - 10:28
Mile 04 - 10:27
Mile 05 - 10:15
Mile 06 - 10:21
Mile 07 - 10:08
Mile 08 - 10:29
Mile 09 - 10:53
Mile 10 - 11:01
Mile 11 - 11:12
Mile 12 - 11:26
Mile 13 - 12:15
Last .1  -   2:23
half marathon elapsed time per Garmin 110 - 2:23:20
half marathon elapsed time per chip scan - - 2:23:22

Start conditions were close to ideal for a strong run -- upper 40s and humid with a light north breeze. By midday, the bright sun likely made things a little too toasty for the full marathoners, but I was already back at the convention center by then.

Despite starting in Caroline Street's "D" -- the last of four corrals -- I didn't have a difficult time establishing a pace early and often throughout. There was significantly less bottlenecking in the early portion of the course than in previous years, especially on five- or seven-lane roads like Washington Avenue, Waugh Drive and Kirby Drive. I would occasionally catch myself uttering a steady cadence under my breath -- "1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and-5-and-6-and-seven-8....1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and-5-and-6-and-seven-8."

Somewhere around mile 4, I was surprised that I was carrying a sub-11 pace so easily and wondered if I had suckered myself into going too fast. By mile 8, I was positive I had not. I could see that I had passed a lot of folks from the A, B, and C corrals. I did interact with some of the wonderful spectators cheering us on, but mostly I was focusing inwardly, because in the midst of this race I realized that I wanted to run like I had something to prove.

I did hit a "wall-ish" feeling going into the 12-mile mark near the edge of downtown, to the point where I felt I was losing some feeling in my legs. I was able to regroup after about a block of walk/jog in reverse.

Passing The Grove restaurant at Discovery Green, I was suddenly mindful of an aroma in the air. "I smell bacon," I called out. "Who has the bacon?" And a spectator answered perfectly, "You got to finish before you can have bacon!"

My packet pickup at the preceding expo was largely unremarkable, although I feel I should close this blog post by making a note to myself here to make a batch of the chocolate avocado muffins that I sampled from the Luby's booth.

Doesn't that recipe sound delectable?

Run For The House

Yesterday I took part in the Run For The House benefiting Ronald McDonald House Houston. The race packet had helpfully included a suggested parking map for downtown, but wasn't able to advise on which lots or garages would actually be open. The result was that I ended up reaching the start area after the 10K race for which I had registered had already taken off.

A few minutes later, I was able to start running with the 5K group and finished in 34:31 according to my Garmin Forerunner 110. I made sure to go around the start and finish lines so as not to trigger the timing chip sensor and potentially confuse any recorded results.

Overall, it was a pretty successful test of some new chilly weather gear I had bought earlier in the week. I'm now a believer in the warming power of a neck gaiter.

It's been a little while since last posting in this blog. I've actually relocated in the interim, but don't need to alter the masthead above; I'm still around the bayou. A bigger race day is coming pretty soon and it's getting to be crunch time for training....

Cinco Ranch Rotary Camo 5K

Kicking off my Memorial Day weekend, this morning I ran the Cinco Ranch Rotary Camo 5K out in Katy. This race was staged out of the Villagio Town Center shopping area with a straightforward out-and-back on Peek Road.

The splits:
Mile 1 - 9:38
Mile 2 - 9:48
Mile 3 - 10:02
Last .13 - 1:05
Elapsed 5K time - 30:33 per Garmin Forerunner 110

It bugged me a little to see that many of the participants around me were absorbed in whatever was in playing in their earbuds. Being a back-of-packer for years, on out-and-back courses I typically watch for and cheer for race leaders on their return leg. It just seems like the right thing to do. After a few minutes I realized I was the only one doing so. So in exasperation, I yelled out, "The running community in Katy is way too quiet!" I don't think my message made its mark on anyone around me, but I felt better.

In the middle of the third mile, I got passed by some pre-teen girls wearing tutus and "CAMO FOR A CAUSE" T-shirts. They made me feel like a slacker, so I picked up my pace the best I could, muttering "Just try to hang with the ponytails....just hang with the ponytails...."

The ponytails dropped me like a brick anyway, but I felt good returning to the Villagio. Around the final turn, I saw the Chik-Fil-A cow executing some animated mascot moves, which inspired me to pause for a microsecond before the finish line and give a bow towards the bovine in appreciation.

This was definitely my first true race of the summer. My shirt was beginning to soak through with perspiration  even before the starting horn. 'Twas a good thing I opted not to wear the stylish, but cotton, camo pattern race shirt. The "camo" theme was new for the Rotary Club race, as a salute to America's troops and especially as a nod to one of the race beneficiaries, Team RWB Texas. The other beneficiary was Katy ISD's Special Buddies program, The combo of the two made an compelling choice as I -- as Houston Running Calendar -- helped sponsor a race for the first time . . . and hopefully not the last time.

Run for Wellness 5K (April 2013 make-up)

So for what feels like a long time I've been aware of the free monthly Run For Wellness 5K series at George Bush Park, but strangely I hadn't been able to remember to register for and show up for any of them until last month's, scheduled for the day after the Green 6.2. So of course, they canceled that one because they got scared by strong storms the previous night.

But on this Cinco de Mayo, they had a make-up race. And it looks like a confluence of perfect weather, rested legs and a no-worries attitude made me fast this morning.

The splits:
Mile 1 - 9:17
Mile 2 - 9:35
Mile 3 - 9:49
Last .09 - :47
Elapsed 5K time - 29:28 per Garmin Forerunner 110

Honestly, I wasn't thinking about any kind of time goal when I got to the park, but my breathing was just so easy that I just decided to push it in the first mile and then hang on as long as I could. The pace caught up with me in the third mile and I opted to walk for a few seconds but it wasn't long enough to thwart a sub-thirty, which I hadn't seen since the November 2011 Run With The Saints.

After the race I took a lime green shirt to a tent at the postrace gathering. The April event was designated as a Boston tribute after the marathon bombings. A company called called Handmade Collective Silkscreening invited us to BYOT for Run To Remember iron-ons at no charge. They turned out looking pretty good.

Green 6.2

It doesn't make sense to me, but I finished this morning's Green 6.2 a few seconds faster than I finished Rodeo Run two months ago.

The splits:
Mile 1 -- 10:06
Mile 2 -- 10:34
Mile 3 -- 10:40
Mile 4 -- 10:43
Mile 5 -- 10:50
Mile 6 -- 10:10
Last .14 -- 1.21
Elapsed 10K time -- 1:04:24, per Garmin Forerunner 110

We got a dose of warm weather, closer to what you'd expect in Houston in late April. My clothing was a little damp at the end, but obviously the humidity didn't drag me down too much.

If I had to guess, I'd say that the race course layout helped by being twisty. There were very few points where the view ahead was an intimidating length of pavement that stretched out our line of sight to the horizon. From the satellite image of my Garmin data I count 22 turns in 10 kilometers, which may be the highest frequency of turns I've ever seen in a one lap road race. At the final U-turn, I caught up with a lady with "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" on the back of her shirt, so of course I was humming the Monty Python tune through the finish line.

Overall this event seemed well-organized and finishers collected both a tech shirt and a medal -- which is bound for my next Christmas tree with all the others.

Bellaire Trolley Run 5K

Slacking again -- I see that I haven't blogged since Rodeo Run. Of course, that's probably because I haven't done much worth blogging about in the past couple of months. This morning, I finally got my butt out to a race again. I've seen the Bellaire Trolley Run on the HARRA calendar for years now, and I finally decided to go try it.

The course starts in front of Bellaire's city hall, then heads north on South Rice to Bellaire Boulevard where runners run around the eponymous trolley car before heading back south again. After a looping around Bellaire High School, the course returns north to finish back at city hall. Small community race on a flat, landmark boulevard with a nice after-party spread -- it sounds like a recipe similar to the Heights Fun Run, and I can now recommend it as a good Houston-area spring 5K.

My personal run went pretty well, especially considering that I haven't been putting in a bunch of miles this spring:

Mile 1 - 9:18
Mile 2 - 9:42
Mile 3 - 9:42
Last .16 - 1:27
Elapsed 5K time - 30:10, per Garmin Forerunner 110

I'm sure other runners can relate to the mind game of picking "rabbits" in front of them to help pull themselves forward. My rabbit in the first mile was a guy wearing a shirt with "1948 MODEL / STILL RUNS" printed on the back. I wish I was able to stick with him, particularly since I ended up falling just short of breaking 30 minutes.

I ended up glad I hung around the after-party. After sampling stuff from Jerry Built Homegrown Burgers, Chik-Fil-A, Cici's Pizza, and Berryhill, I ended up walking back to my car with a restaurant gift certificate that more than paid off my race entry fee. Bonus!

Oh, and I promise: The next race report won't be more than two months from now.

Rodeo Run 10K

Yesterday morning I took part once again in the springtime mass spectacle that is the Rodeo Run. With the ongoing METROrail construction, we got a new route for this year's 10K. The initial downtown parade loop started next to the Hobby Center, and instead of the remaining distance over the Elysian viaduct, the bulk of the run was an out-and-back on Allen Parkway, a flatter and faster course.

And with the mild conditions, I was all ready to go faster:

Mile 1 - 10:12
Mile 2 - 9:38
Mile 3 - 9:59
Mile 4 - 10:24
Mile 5 - 10:13
Mile 6 - 10:42
Last .33 - 3:28
10K elapsed time - 1:04:34 per Garmin Forerunner 110
10K elapsed time - 1:04:36 per D-tag chip

I had to flip back on this blog a few years to find a faster 10K time than that. A nerdy thing about Rodeo Run is that they're using all the stat breakdown reports that the Houston Marathon uses on their website. So  in addition to knowing that my 5K split times were 31:16 and 33:20, the results page also graphically shows how far back in the pack I was compared with my peers, or compared to the women. I can even take pride knowing that during the second half of the race, I passed 367 people and only got passed by 113.

Anyway, the new course gets mostly a thumbs-up from me. Only the couple of Allen Parkway underpasses keep this from being a really flat course, and the finish line area is a short walk back to the starting area -- which also means that it's easy for a runner to enjoy the rest of the parade after finishing. It is a little bit mean, however, that the 5K finish line was placed about a half mile before the 10K finish line. It's a bit disheartening to see a finish line, then realize it's not yours, and have to go around it to the left and continue on.

At least reaching the real finish line felt rewarding. Wait -- no it wasn't. It felt like a bug in the face, because right as I stepped on the chip mat, a moth suddenly appeared on the wrong side of my glasses. So on the finish cam, instead of looking of relieved, accomplished, or victorious, I look like a crazy person swatting at my own face.

Aramco Houston Half Marathon

Last Sunday I was relieved to run that left hook around Discovery Green and finally have the finish line on Avenida de las Americas directly ahead. Relief and excitement were combined in a strange cocktail, however, as it felt like my heartbeat was located on my shoulders as I touched down on those chip mats.

One might think I'd have a been-there-done-that feeling about Aramco Houston Half Marathon number six, but I don't. Oh, sure, I can never quite duplicate the experiential thrill of the first time back in '06 -- although I can sort of re-live it by watching my belly wobble over the finish line on the recording I made of the ten o'clock news that night. But there's satisfaction in being older and slower (**sigh**) and yet still deciding to show up and run.

Showing up was a bit tougher of a decision as we had some of the most challenging race weather I've ever seen. I think everyone involved had their eyeballs on the weather forecast all week long, and when Sunday a.m. arrived, we were lined up on La Branch and Crawford streets under cold showers and facing directly into a 17-mph head wind. I shivered some in the corral trying to keep warm in shorts, two long-sleeve layers and one of my venerable C9 wicking hats. After Ryan Hall fired the starting gun, one thought kept repeating in my head -- "I'll be OK if I can just get moving." I had that thought on fairly continuous repeat for half an hour, because that's how long it took for my "open corral" in the rear to finally make it to the starting arch.

And I was right. Once I started plodding forward, I felt much better. By mile 5, the rainfall eased and I was able to shed my outer layer and wrap it around my waist. I was in a fairly good groove, mostly sticking to the 10:1 intervals we were doing for many Saturdays beforehand. Then the challenge became one of covering the distance, From mile 10 onward, I pulled over multiple times to stretch out my complaining calf muscles. At the turn onto Allen Parkway, I unknowingly made a cameo appearance onto the KTRK-TV broadcast.

Once again, the organization of the Houston Marathon Committee shined through. Thankfully, the wait for the start was definitely the longest of the morning. Porta-potties, food, finish chute presented little in the way of bottlenecked lines. I didn't check in a gear bag, but I didn't see any significant lines there if I had. The spectators were still out in force supporting their runners, but I think the weather dampened the enthusiasm of the residents who have houses along the route.

Just for the sake of completeness, let's check the splits....

Mile 01 - 12:11
Mile 02 - 11:56
Mile 03 - 11:44
Mile 04 - 11:49
Mile 05 - 11:40
Mile 06 - 12:46
Mile 07 - 12:13
Mile 08 - 11:45
Mile 09 - 13:07
Mile 10 - 14:07
Mile 11 - 14:19
Mile 12 - 13:25
Mile 13 - 12:19
Last .27 - 2:57
Elapsed half marathon time - 2:46:18 per Garmin Forerunner 110
Elapsed half marathon time - 2:46:14 per timing chip

I'm pretty sure I've turned in slower times on this course only twice, I walked the 13.1 miles last year, and finished in something like 2:47 way back in 2006. So it feels like I'm back where I started.

And now, time to ponder my spring running. . . .

Trafigura Home Run 10K

This post is actually being written two weeks overdue, but through the cheater's magic of Blogger pre-dating, I'm labeling it with the actual race date to avoid any future confusion if I come looking for it....

For the second time, I came downtown to take part in the Trafigura Home Run benefiting Ronald McDonald House Houston. The course route was reconfigured this year so that the start/finish and postrace party were located on Allen Parkway in the shadow of the Interstate 45. The bulk of the mileage was still out-and-back on Allen Parkway, but at the far end, the 10K runners would visit the Montrose/Allen Parkway intersection three times in a cloverleaf  pattern. (Look up USATF course TX12195ETM for a visual,)

As entertaining as I find the art of course layout, the more pressing concern was actually weather. Early December can still mean warm and humid conditions and I had to take care not to let myself get sucked out of the start at too fast of a pace. As I was missing out on our usual training group run back home in dam country, I decided to practice run/walk intervals even if this was "only" 10K, and the results were quite positive:

Mile 1 - 9:46
Mile 2 - 10:00
Mile 3 - 10:16
Mile 4 - 11:15
Mile 5 - 11:10
Mile 6 - 11:31
Last .27 - 2:37
Elapsed 10K time - 1:06:35 per Garmin Forerunner 110, 1:06:36 per race chip timing

My memory may be a bit fuzzy, but I don't think I've clocked under 1:10 in a 10K in quite a while. So with a new tree ornament around my neck, I went home happy.

TXU Energy Turkey Trot 5K

So this "running thing" isn't getting any less popular. This morning I was sitting behind a long line of cars waiting to exit the 610 freeway. We were all heading into the TXU Energy Turkey Trot and bunches of runners started leaving their cars (I hope they were passengers) and running down the off-ramp towards the start corral on Post Oak Boulevard.

As I'd find out from the public address announcer later, this year's event in the Uptown district had 13,000 registered. That's a lot more than I remembered from just a few years ago.

Anyway, those hurried souls were likely trying to make it to the starting gun of the 10K race. Fortunately, I had a bit more time to spare, because I was out for the more leisurely 5K that would start 30 minutes later. After needing almost all of that extra half hour to find a parking spot, I took off with the back of the pack along the streets surrounding The Galleria:

Mile 1 -- 11:41
Mile 2 -- 10:50
Mile 3 -- 9:57
Last .14 -- 1:18
Elapsed 5K time -- 33:48 per Garmin Forerunner 110

You're just going to have to trust my Forerunner time, as I opted to save five bucks by not getting a timing chip. With this type of race, there was no way I was threatening a PR today! It took about 10 minutes after the gun for me to reach the start line and after much non-tangential pathfinding, I think I finally got ahead of the packs of walkers around \the 2.99-mile point.

Now it's time for some football and family time. Happy Thanksgiving, and if you're thinking of running this event next year, plan on arriving an hour early!

Catching Up: Girls On The Run, Flash Mobs, Lottery, etc.

For the first time in eight years, I did not take part in any of the area races on Independence Day. I was up a little on the late side as I watched my first MLS game on Tuesday night at the Houston Dynamo's new downtown stadium. For all the wonderful crowd buzz that abounded in boisterous shades of orange, it felt like nothing really happened as we all went home after a nil-nil conclusion in the match against the Chicago Fire.

But to resume my running story here on the upper reaches of Buffalo Bayou, there's been a little more than nothing as I've been trying to keep the fitness fires lit with some fun runs close to home. It's just that I hadn't felt motivated to blog much about them. In late May, the Greater Houston Girls On The Run organization held their annual fundraiser 5K and I rolled up the neighborhood concrete course in about 32 minutes. Then last month, I tried something new as Sun and Ski Sports put together a weekly Flash Mob Race Series. I made a couple of the races. Each course was roughly 3 miles or even less, but on the cross-country terrain of Terry Hershey Park and George Bush Park. Combining the late p.m. heat and the off-road footing meant slow times but fun times. At least I came away with a copy of Jason Robillard's The Barefoot Running Book as a door prize. From what I read online, there may be more Flash Mob madness yet to come.

And finally, it's already time to start aiming the training towards winter goal races. I successfully made it through the lottery and registration process for the 2013 Aramco Houston Half Marathon. Unlike the Independence Day runs, my Houston Marathon weekend participation streak is a meaningful one I'd like to keep rolling.

Running for the Arts

Ah, another tardy race report blog post.

Last Saturday, April 28, I ran the Spring Branch ISD fundraiser Running for the Arts. This 5K, now in its 20th year, was staged out of Memorial City Mall.

The splits:
Mile 1 -- 9:40
Mile 2 -- 9:38
Mile 3 -- 10:31
Last .17 -- 1:44
5K Elapsed Time -- 31:05 (per Garmin Forerunner 110)

Thanks to the large number of students, the first mile had a little extra fun -- there's nothing like being among hundreds of giddy kids that are uninterested in keeping a steady pace or following a tangent. But somehow they managed to not get crushed by me.

The late spring has really been feeling more like early summer, so the best part of the morning had to be the post-run snowcone.

Alex's 5K

Happy Easter!

I started the holiday weekend at Bear Creek Park, where the Bayou City Road Runners hosted their second annual Alex's 5K on Friday evening. This race benefited two autism-related charities, Avondale House and Autism Speaks.

The course consisted of two circuits of a loop road that connects to the various picnic areas on the park's west side, and the tree shade was most welcome during this rather warm sunset race. In a kooky coincidence, I clocked the same elapsed time for this 5K as I did last week.

The splits:
Mile 1 -- 9:24
Mile 2 -- 9:40
Mile 3 -- 9:46
Last .18 -- 1:41
5K Elapsed Time -- 30:31 (per Garmin Forerunner 110)

Being an Energy Corridor denizen, I did enjoy getting a rare local Friday night race opportunity. I even took advantage of the "must be present to win" clause to score one of the door prizes at the end of the night. My only real complaint is that the timing company ran out of chips for walk-up registrants. Let's hope they noted this year's turnout and come better supplied next year.

Attack Poverty 5K

I decided to try out some flat-out speed yesterday morning at the Attack Poverty 5K in Richmond. I believe this is a brand new event (correct me if I'm wrong) benefiting the Friends of North Richmond and staged at River Pointe Church. It was an under-frilled production, with no chip timing and awards only for overall and masters winners. The bib numbers were even leftovers from other races. (The emcee mentioned that considering the good turnout, they'd be back with a higher "frill level" next year, including chip-timing.)

The course was an out-and-back using only a single lane of Ransom Road and surrounding neighborhood streets. If the attendance grows much more this will definitely need to be expanded. My race went OK, and I came somewhat close to going under 30 minutes. By the second mile, I could feel myself fading and the dangling blonde braid I had been using as a pacesetter faded out of view. Running low on energy I joked to one of the course marshals, "I swear, the second half of this course is longer than the first."

The splits:
Mile 1 -- 9:01
Mile 2 -- 9:31
Mile 3 -- 10:17
Last. .15 -- 1:43
5K elapsed time -- 30:31 (per Forerunner 110)

I did find myself a little jealous of the little ones in the kids run that took place after the 5K. Their event ended with a water balloon toss, and on a warn spring morning, that might have felt pretty good.