Yesterday, a few friends and I had the opportunity to run in the Wildflower 10K in beautiful Fredericksburg, Texas.
Fredericksburg is a bit weird in a way that it’s this little bed and breakfast community in Texas with a German flair. German immigrants left their mark permanently on the city via all the beer gardens and the Texas German language. Anyways, the weather was near perfect and the blue skies definitely helped the mood…
My goal was to finish the 10K in sub 40 minutes but I fell slightly short of that goal. I started the race a bit slow to give my knee a bit of a break but I ended up finishing in about 42 minutes averaging a 6:45/mile pace with zero knee pain. It was nice to learn that I ended up winning my age group with a time like that, woooo!
All in all, well organized race and I’m happy my knee is back to normal.
Today I had the opportunity to take part in the XTERRA Muleshoe 22K Trail Race.
My right knee held up pretty well and I managed to finish in ~1:53 which is a decent time coming off my knee injury. I could of easily ran the race 10-15 minutes faster if I pushed myself a bit. I didn’t push myself until the last two miles which was too late to catch up to the head of the pack. Anyways, after I finished I went straight to the free beer to medicate a bit…
What I didn’t expect after three beers was participating in a Gatorade chugging contest for a pair of trail shoes…
It was a complete failure on my part… I tasted defeat and it tasted like Gatorade…
Race Revolutions did a great job hosting the event.
I will be better prepared for the drinking contest next time.
I was finishing up a webinar for work yesterday and as a reward (and mostly to satisfy my curiosity too), I had to have the KFC Double Down sandwich.
I’m a fan immediately because you can’t go wrong when you remove bread and use two pieces of chicken as the delivery vehicle for bacon and cheese…
My review? Drop the mayo and you have a pretty decent sandwich. I will admit that the double down sits a bit heavy after you devour it… I went for a bike ride later in the day to pay penance and could still feel the double down.
Oh, I’m also convinced that America will eat itself to death in the near future.
This morning I had the opportunity (along with 20,000+ others) to run the Statesman Capitol 10K. It was a bit rainy in the morning so it wasn’t ideal running conditions but at least it wasn’t pouring…
I was running easy 6:40 splits until the last couple miles where a cramp started to eat away at me but I managed to finish in about 43 minutes. Overall I felt good and I’m confident my knee is just about fully recovered so I’ll be good for the San Diego Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon. On a side note, I was so close to getting the mark of the beast for my race number…
There’s always next time 
I had a nice 52 mile bike ride yesterday and came across some beautiful bluebonnets…
Besides being the Texas state flower, when you start seeing bluebonnets in Austin it means summer is coming and my heat acclimation runs will be starting.
I can’t wait to feel the burn
This morning, I had an opportunity to participate in the Rogue Trail Series: The Maze trail race.
I signed up for the 30K and only ended up running around 20K. My knee is still giving me trouble on distances longer than 10K at any reasonable speed. I think I’m at the level now that I need some medical attention and lighter races until I heal up a bit.
That Chicago Marathon is later this year and I want to rock that race. Anyways, nothing like post trail race beer and good company to heal the knee pain away.
In the end, I’m still looking forward to my next trail race.
Today I had the opportunity to do the Rosedale Ride in Austin.
The Rosedale School is AISD’s only school for children with multiple disabilities and the ride is all about raising money for the school. I did the race with one of my great friends and we did the 42.4 mile route and finished in about 2:30!
After we finished… in true Texas style… there was some serious grilling of BBQ…
On top of that, I spotted an FSM logo!
I love Austin. Tomorrow I have a 30k trail race to conquer!
I spent the last week in sunny California for business. While I was there, I got a kick out of running with my Texas running socks. I don’t know why, maybe it’s the part of me that just loves Texas a lot more than California these days.
If you need pair of custom running socks, the Sock Guy does it right.
Anyways, I think I’m finally getting over my knee issues while running. I can’t go full out yet but I’m getting there. It’s a terrible feeling to know that you can push your body harder but your body is saying, no, not yet. I’m going to put my knee to the test this weekend when I do a 30K trail race as part of the Rogue Trail Series.
Here’s to no more excruciating knee pain!
Last weekend, a bunch of friends and I crammed into a couple vans and participated in the Texas Independence Relay. The 203.20 relay race started in Gonzales, Texas…
We ran throughout the beautiful Texas countryside… town to town…
I only managed to get two legs in before my IT band said no more. I’m pretty sure this injury was a result of the Austin marathon and over-training… I plan to switch to the bicycle for the next few weeks while I recover. Thankfully, my awesome team managed to pick up the rest of my legs. We eventually made it to the Houston downtown area…
In the end, we managed to get to the San Jacinto Monument in 24:59:10!
I believe we placed in the top 5, but I’m not sure. I’ll know when the final results are posted from the race. On the whole, I highly recommend anyone who wants to do a relay race to do the TIR, there’s no better way to explore the Texas country side.
Are you attending EclipseCon 2010?
Does snacking on all that conference food (think chocolate fountains) make you feel guilty?
Want to improve your 5K time ?
Well, I have good news. This year, EclipseSource has graciously sponsored the EclipseCon Exercise event. To attend, please register on the wiki and let the event organizers know that you’re coming. This year, we have something special for the runners due to sponsorship, technical tees!
Anyways, I want to continue the tradition of morning exercise during the conference and I hope to see some fresh faces this year in the morning. There really is no better way to start off your morning than running through some fresh California air.
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