Houston Half Marathon V

We completed our 5th half marathon and are halfway to legacy status (10+ races). 

We also hit a personal record, beating our previous best time by seven minutes (2:39) and that's with three port-a-potty stops during the run.

The weather was perfect, in the 40-50s.

I didn't have any knee issues or pain during the run, which was a first. 

I actually trained better than I did in previous years, as I had vowed last year. 

We actually did long runs during our training block and got up to running 8 miles. 

The training plan was created by ChatGPT.

Houston Half Marathon IV

We did it again. We completed our fourth Houston Half Marathon and we'll keep going until we can't. 

But geez, I'm surprised I came out relatively unscathed given the amount of training I did this year... which was essentially nothing.

The longest training run I did was only 4 miles. 

The most mileage I ran in one week was only 8 miles.

I didn't run once in 2 weeks before the actual race.

My training gets worse every year.

I will do better next year.

Guaranteed. 

Houston Half Marathon III

We completed our third half marathon in as many years. At this rate, we're going for the legacy status, i.e. at least 10 completed races. Hopefully my body will be able to maintain some semblance of health.

Speaking of which, my right knee (once again) at about the 7-8 mile mark was hurting bad. It was my friend, iliotibial band syndrome. 

But it's not surprise. I trained even less than I did last year. First, I sustained a calf injury during Thanksgiving, which kept me out for two weeks. Then just recently I got COVID, which had me breathing hard with any activity so running was out of the question. Oh well, what can you do?

Houston Half Marathon II

So I lied, again. 

Well, not intentionally lied but instead had a change of heart. 

Let me count the ways...

First, I said we're not having a fourth kid.

Second, I said I'd never buy a minivan.

Third, I said I was done with long distance running.

And I'm sure there are more examples but that's all for now. 😅

Houston Half Marathon

Last weekend we ran the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. It was Lynn's first half marathon, which was why I signed up too. She actually signed up to do it in 2021 (pushing her to pursue it after doing my own marathon in 2020) but COVID canceled everything so this was nearly two years in the making.

To be honest, I barely trained for this race. The most mileage I put in for a week was only 12 miles, with the longest run being 6 miles. A half marathon is 13.1 miles. As a result, my right knee was wrecked afterwards.

Lynn's training tapered off with our week long winter break vacation and then the holidays... but she fared much better than me. In fact, she did really well. Proud of her.

It was fun but I think I'm done with endurance races. ✌

Aramco Houston Half Marathon

Houston Marathon

On January 19, 2020, I completed the Chevron Houston Marathon. Finishing a marathon has always been on my bucket list. Why? Because it sucks. It's a tough challenge. There's a statistic floating around the internet that said <1% of the US population has ever completed a marathon. I want to be in that rare group.

I was glad to have crossed this off my bucket list. It was brutal. It was the hardest thing I've done. But doing it with friends (and uncle) made it more enjoyable and memorable. We start together. We suffer together. We finish together.

Houston Half Marathon ✔

On Sunday, I popped my (racing) cherry when I completed the Houston Half Marathon. This was all to prepare for the upcoming Houston Marathon in January 2020. I've never participated a road race before... 5K, 10K, anything... so it wouldn't have been smart to have the full marathon be my first one.

For me, the Houston Half was to experience the process of a race... to see if there are any issues that might arise... to see what works. Here's what I did and the lessons I learned.

Houston Half Marathon

26.2

My first triathlon

If you had asked me ten years ago if I wanted to do a triathlon, the answer would have been an emphatic, "Hell no." Back then I was too busy eating anything and everything, drinking recklessly and not exercising. But eventually I found the errors of my way and wanted to live a healthier lifestyle so I modified my diet and started to incorporate exercise. In the beginning, my goal was to simply run a mile without stopping. After years of persistent exercise and always looking to improve myself, my latest goal was to do a triathlon. And that happened this past weekend.

Shipley Do-Nuts' Dash

On Sunday morning was the inaugural Shipley Do-Nuts' Dash which was a fun run that benefited Kids' Meals, a non-profit organization providing and delivering meals to pre-school kids living in poverty. That's a great cause. And the race participants would get Shipley's donuts (my favorite), beer from 8th Wonder (which has the Vietnamese coffee porter, another favorite) and Houston Dynamo tickets. It was a no brainer, we're in.

Donut bike ride

The name of this race has changed so much I just call it the donut ride. Originally it was called Tour de Donut but then it changed to The Donut Rally. And now it's called The Breakfast Bash Bicycle Rally. Whatever, it's still the same. It's a 28 mile bike ride that involves donuts, where each one consumed shaves 5 minutes off of your time. And it's not any ol' donut... it's Shipley's!

Moonlight Bicycle Ramble

Last Saturday night, at midnight, we participated in the Moonlight Bicycle Ramble. Besides being able to bike at night in the city and dressing up in costumes, it was for a good cause. The proceeds go to Bike Houston, who (according to their website) "is dedicated to making Houston a better place for all types of cyclists." If you didn't already know, I love riding my bike. And if they can make it safer, I'm all for it.

Tough Mudder: Round 2 (Austin, TX)

This past weekend I did the Tough Mudder again in Austin. It was the second time for five of the twelve in our group. To be honest, I wasn't as excited for this event as I was for the previous one. There was no anxiety. No fear. I've been through it before. But as the day came closer, I was pumped. This event was awesome.

Tour de Donut (bike race)

Last Sunday we did the Tour de Donut bike race. It's a 28 mile course that includes two rest stops... to eat donuts. Each donut consumed takes 5 minutes off of your race time so it's possible to finish with a negative time. But it's also possible to gain weight from a race. And it wasn't just any donuts, they were Shipley's! I thought I could easily eat a dozen donuts. To eat my favorite donuts, how hard can it be? Stupid me, it was very hard.

Tough weekend (Austin, TX)

This past weekend we headed up to Austin to run the Tough Mudder. After doing a couple 5k mud runs, this was naturally the next step. Tough Mudder is a 12-mile course that included 22 obstacles, ranging from submersion in ice water to getting electrocuted. This was no joke.

More running in the mud

Last weekend we ran the Mudder Dash Mighty Mud Dash. The sudden name change was probably due to a conflict with the bigger, more popular Tough Mudder (which we will eventually do too). Now that I'm more fit and in shape, I would like to do a 10k race, then a half-marathon and God willing, a full marathon. I can't imagine myself doing a marathon but then again, I never thought I could run a 5k without stopping. Now that's child's play.

Warrior weekend (Austin, TX)

This past weekend we went to Austin, leaving behind all of the boys. Leaving the older two boys didn't feel any different (since they go to my parents on a weekly basis) but leaving baby for the first time was kind of sad and worrisome. But according to my mom, he was really good and there were no troubles. So why the trip to Austin? Besides the good food, our main purpose was to run the Warrior Dash.