Only Three at the Park

We had a small group at the park this evening. Just Jacob, Jan and I. They did 4+ miles on the trails and since I am running a marathon this weekend, I cut my distance to 2.7 miles.

Avenues

After a workout at Nautilus, I drove over to the track and from there ran a course through the hilly avenues. It turned out to be 3.3 miles. Nice cool running weather. After my run, I went to the Sam Houston State - Rice University baseball game here in Huntsville. Good game, but Sam lost.

Tuesday Trails

I met up with the group at the state park this evening and ran 4.2 miles on the trails.

Short of Time

I spent most of the day working in my yard and tilling up my garden. I made it to Nautilus a little later than usual and was late getting out for a run. And, I had to be somewhere at 7 p.m. Anyway, I ran on the roads and had to cut the run to 2 miles. The weather for my marathon in Athens, Ohio next Sunday is looking good, 34 degrees or so at the start, high of 54 and 10% chance of rain. Can't ask for better weather than that. My only concern is finding good Mexican food in Ohio for a pre-race dinner.

Two Races Today

I went over to College Station this morning and ran the Race to Educate 5K on the Texas A&M campus. Nice small race. It was rather cool this morning and the course was flat. I finished in 31:45, which is my fastest 5K in nearly 2 years. The race was put on my Aggie Engineers, so I'm sure the course was accurate. This afternoon, I ran a non-competitive 3.5-mile trail run at Huntsville State Park. This is an annual event of our running club to introduce people to trail running and our park. We had 31 runners. I finished in 42:25.

Tyler Azalea 10K

I ran laps at the track in Huntsville Friday morning and then drove up to Tyler, Texas for the Azalea 10K this morning. It was rather hot and humid, but after running full marathons the last five weekends, the 10K did not seem to be much of a challenge. I finished in 1:10:24. I have two races tomorrow, but I am looking forward to running the Athens Marathon in Ohio next weekend.

Spring

I found a small snake in my back yard yesterday and when running trails (2.7 miles) at the park this evening, I noticed that various flying insects are out again. It must be Spring.

Day Off

I took the day off and ran laps at the track. Nice weather. Speaking of weather, I looked at the forecast for my next marathon in Athens, Ohio on April 3. Low of 32 and high of 61. What a contrast to the 80+ at my marathon last week in Seabrook, Texas. Frankly, I prefer the cold. Then, on April 10, I will run the Big D Marathon in Dallas. There is no way that it will be cold in Dallas on April 10.

Ankle Issues

I met up with a large group at the park this evening to run trails. Most ran a 4.6-mile loop, but I was having some problems with my left ankle. So, I ran a 3-mile loop, instead.

Recovery Monday

Since I ran the marathon yesterday, I went out to the state park this afternoon and ran 3 miles on the trails. There are still logs burning and it has been 4 weeks since the control burn. Of course, we have had virtually no rain since the burn.

Seabrook Trail Marathon

I ran laps at the track in Huntsville yesterday, before leaving for Seabrook, on the coast east of Houston. Got up early this morning for a 7:15 marathon start. This was my 4th straight year for running this race. The course was four loops on a 6.55-mile course. The course was flat with a crushed gravel surface. I had lots of friends running and you see them many times on the out and back parts of the course. The problem was the heat. The forecast was for 80 degrees and I'm sure that it was at least 80. I had to take on a lot of fluids to stay hydrated. I finished in 6:14:58, about 5 minutes slower than last year. This was my 18th marathon or longer this season, starting last October 10. Two more to go to reach my goal. Seabrook was the third leg of the Texas Marathon Triple, which I have completed for four straight years.

Had to Run to Rest Up

I did a lot of strenuous work around the house today and my back was hurting and I was very tired. So, I went to the track and ran laps to rest up.

Looking Ahead to Sunday

I will run the Seabrook Marathon on Sunday. The temperature is suppose to get up to 78, but there is only a slight chance of rain. It will be my 18th marathon or longer since last October 10. I suppose I am ready as I will ever be.
In the meantime, I ran a 3-mile loop on the trails at the park this evening.

3 Miles with J.C.

J. C. and I met up on the roads in town this evening and finished up 3 miles. Of course, I had to speed up a little to run with J. C. and he had to slow down a lot to run with me.

More Daylight

Now that we have more daylight in the evenings, we moved our group trail run at the park to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursday. This will accommodate those who have to work (whatever that is). The group was larger this evening and I expect it will be for a while. We ran 4.2 miles on the trails.

Unplanned Course

After working out at Nautilus this evening, I went to the track and ran around town from there. The university students are on spring break, so the streets are relatively empty. I ran an unplanned course. I measured it on the USAT&F Running Routes web site tonight and it turned out to be 2.6 miles. That web site saves a lot of gas. Before, I always drove a new course to check the distance.

Felt Recovered

After each marathon, I seem to recover more quickly. Today, I felt fully recovered from the marathon yesterday. I went out to the state park early this afternoon and ran 3 miles on the trails. Since it was Sunday afternoon, the weather was nice and spring break is on, the park was packed. Lots of hikers on the trails.

Gusher Marathon

I ran laps at the track in Huntsville before driving down to Beaumont for today's Gusher Marathon. It was a double loop course, starting and finishing on the Lamar University campus. We ran through the campus, two+ miles to downtown Beaumont, around the downtown area and then back to the campus. Except for highway underpasses, it was a very flat course. The temperature during the race ranged from the 50's to the 70's. However, it was very windy. I finished in 5:53:37, a few minutes slower than Litle Rock last Sunday. There were 3 of us in the 65-69 age group and I took second.

Time to Taper

I met up with the group at the park this evening and ran 3+ miles on the trails. Now, it is time to taper for the marathon on Saturday. One of the guys running with us sprained his ankle on the trails. He limped back and we sacrificed our ice to aid in his recovery.

Late Run

I was working in my yard this afternoon and was late getting to Nautilus and then out for a run. Since it was getting dark and I hesitate running the streets at night, I ran laps at the track.

Finisher Medal Comparison

I was watching the local news in my hotel room in Little Rock, Arkansas last Saturday night and they were covering Sunday's Little Rock Marathon. They mentioned that Runners World Magazine had declared the Little Rock Marathon finisher medal to be the largest in the world. Whoa! We know things are bigger in Texas. So, I compared the 2011 Texas Marathon and Little Rock Marathon medals. Here are the results:

Texas

Height - 8 inches

Width - 8 1/4 inches

Thickness - 1/2 inch

Weight - 3 pounds, 6 ounces

Little Rock

Height - 7 5/8 inches

Width - 5 1/8 inches

Thickness - 1/4 inch

Weight - 1 pound, 1 ounce

So, any way you look at it, the Texas medal is bigger (and better looking). To Little Rock's credit, their ribbon is nice and the globe thing in the middle spins around.

I went out to the park this evening and ran 3 miles on the trails in the area where they did the controlled burn last week. Some dead trees were still smoldering, so there was a lot of smoke in the air. Apparently, the burn was not too controlled. Two bridges were destroyed in the burn.

Little Rock Marathon

I ran laps at the track last Friday morning before heading for Wylie, northest of Dallas. I spent the night with my son and ran the streets of Wylie Saturday morning in very cold and windy weather. Then, I made the 5-hour drive to Little Rock, Arkansas for the marathon on Sunday morning. The temperature was in the low 30's at race start. It warmed up as the day went on and ended up being very comfortable. When I ran this race last year, I was 2:40:46 at the half way point and finished in 2:49:08. This year, I was 2:44:18 at the half way point and finished in 2:46:59. In other words, I ran much better the second half this year. I felt very strong after mile 20 and passed a lot of other runners. Maybe it was the Mexican food I ate the evening before the race. No more pasta for me. I drove back to Wylie after the race and back to Huntsville today. I ran laps at the track this evening. Next is the Gusher Marathon in Beaumont this Saturday.

Easy Day

With another marathon this weekend, I took it easy today and ran laps at the track this afternoon.
I was saddened this morning to learn that my friend, Wendell Londeen of Huntsville, passed away at age 85. Wendell ran the Houston Half Marathon for several years. He was 82 when he ran it last. He tried to enter the next year, but he called them to get an entry form and found that the race had already filled up and the only way he could get in was to donate a lot of money to one of their charities. He did not have a computer and there was no such thing as a manual entry anymore. He thought the person he talked to at the marathon office would be pocketing the extra money. I called the marathon office in Houston and they agreed to let him sign up, but he was so upset he never ran it again. However, he continued to run at the track in Huntsville until only recently.

Smoldering Trails

They did a controlled burn of about half the state park yesterday. The trails were smoldering today and that area of the park was closed. I went out there this afternoon and ran 3 miles on trails outside the burn area.

Signed up for Tyler Rose Marathon

I just signed up for the Tyler Rose Marathon in Tyler, Texas on October 9, 2011. This will probably be my first marathon at age 70. I have not decided what my goals will be for the next marathon season, but surely I will do a few. I have three different knee problems, so it is important to offset the problems with strength.
I went out to the park this afternoon and did a solo 5-mile run on the trails. They were in the middle of a controlled burn in another part of the park, so it was a little smoky.