I believe there were about 40,000 runners doing the race. It’s always nice to know when you start in corral 1 and turn around and just see a wave of people behind you (I think there were about 40 corrals total).

I somehow managed to have a great run given the little training I’ve been doing as of late. I think my results mostly have to do with me doing CrossFit and heat acclimatization runs during the hottest part of the day in Austin. Anyways, I managed to cross the finish line at Sea World in 1:28:05 which is a new half marathon PR for me! When I first started the race, I was chilling with the 1:30 pace group but after a few miles, I felt pretty good and picked up my pace. The course was mostly flat with some hills and some surprising highway running! My results ended up putting me 65th out of 13561 runners overall and 11th out of 601 runners in my age group. My splits were as follows…

5K: 20:54
6.3M: 42:35
11M: 1:16:07

I’m looking at doing sub 1:25 next, it should be easily reachable if I start doing more track workouts. On a side note, I got to spend some time in La Jolla, CA after the race which was nice. There’s nothing like a little post-race brunching and noshing in La Jolla. On top of that, it managed to bring back some great and interesting memories from last year. But alas, life’s too short for regrets, right?

After two weeks of travel, I’m at least happy to report I can run a sub 20 minute 5K. I ended up finishing in 19:45 and finished third in my age group. That’s about 90 seconds away from my PR so I have a lot to do to get back on the running wagon. On top of that, I signed up for three 60K trial races in the Austin area. I’m looking forward to training seriously again now that my travel is going to die down quite a bit. Anyways, kudos to ARC for another superbly organized race.

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.

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 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 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.

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!

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.

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.

203.20 miles and 40 relay legs of running goodness…

This time I have the honor of being team captain and organizing the logistics of the race. After calculating our current leg times, I’m predicting that we will finish under 24 hours which is my goal. Last year the team finished just about 24 hours and we received 3rd place in the open mixed division.

My goal is to best that time from last year and hopefully finish in the top three again. I will take pictures and document the journey as much as I can!