2007 Year In Review

2007 is a year that I will always look back on fondly.

Obviously, the biggest thing that happened was getting engaged to Sadie. On the two year anniversary of the day we met, I popped the question at the top of Mt. Bonnel and she said yes. Most people (Sadie included) wondered what took me so long. I just thought the 2 year anniversary of us meeting was the perfect time to do it.

The next thing was qualifying for the Boston Marathon. I ran 3:06 at the St. George Marathon in Utah. I finally made it after failing on my previous 4 attempts, but I guess the failure just made the success that much better. It was great knowing that I had finally accomplished my goal and even better seeing how happy my family and friends were for me.

Sadie and I took several trips this year.

• In April we visited New York City to visit Tara. We spent 4 days there and covered nearly all of Manhattan. A few highlights were seeing a game at Yankees Stadium, going to the top of the Empire State Building, seeing the WTC site, running in Central Park, and eating at several great restaurants.
• In August we went to Chicago to see Sadie's friends Erin and Mike. We toured around a little and saw the Shedd Aquarium, Michigan Avenue, Millenium Park and the Forest Park area where they live.
• In October, we spent a few days in Utah after the St. George Marathon. We toured and hiked in Zion National Park for a couple days and saw all the beautiful scenery. After that we drove to Las Vegas and spent a day there. Those are two very opposite places. I think we both enjoyed Zion a lot more.

Work was very busy and kept me moving all year long.

Decker Challenge 20K

Today I ran the Decker Challenge 20k, the 3rd race in the Austin Distance Challenge. I've always like Decker because of the hills, but this is the first time I have run it in 3 years. I always seem to hurt myself at this race, so I've been skipping it.

I've been missing a lot of workouts lately and I haven't been feeling good the last couple days, so I didn't quite know what to expect. I lined up a little farther back them normal to keep from starting out too fast. It apparently didn't work since Mile 1 was 6:49. A little bit quicker than I planned.

The first half was spent passing people on the uphills and getting passed on the downhills. Around Mile 7 I decided to press a little harder and finished out the rest of the way pretty strong. Sadie was at the top of the last big hill with Lilly around Mile 10 and gave me a little boost to get to the finish. I finished in 1:29:32.

The weather was a lot warmer than usual for this race, but I thought it was pretty comfortable.

Scary Sight

On Sunday, Duane and I met up for a long run on the greenbelt. We were on the south side of the creek west of Mopac when we ran up behind a guy carrying a spear.

Distance Challenge

I really didn't set out to run the Distance Challenge this year, but somehow find myself in the middle of it. I've completed all the races but one a couple of times, but I've never finished the entire series. Hopefully I can do it this time without affecting my Boston training. I'm trying to take it fairly easy, but I really can't be trusted to do that when I pin a number on my shirt.

Race Report: Run for the Water 10 Miler

Last Sunday I ran the EAS "Run for the Water" 10 Miler. The course consisted mainly of the Scenic Loop that we all run so often. I had planned to take it pretty easy since I haven't done any training for the last month.

My preparations for this race weren't exactly ideal. Sadie and I went to a wedding in Kerrville on Saturday and didn't get back into town until late. My pre-race dinner consisted of chips and salsa, tamales, rice and wedding cake. On Sunday morning I nearly left my race number on the kitchen counter. The only reason I didn't drive off without it is that Sadie wanted me to get the course map for her. We arrived at the start about 15 minutes before the start.

I met up with Travis at the start because we both said we were going to take it easy. Since I was late arriving the starting corral was already full so I had to snake my way through a bunch of people to get to where he was. Along the way I stepped in a hole and twisted my ankle.

After apparently hearing the Burundi national anthem (sung by Gilbert, I think) we were off. So much for running easy! First mile: 7:06. Mile 2: 6:57. We finally slowed down at Mile 3 because we were going uphill: 7:24. I tried to conserve as much as I could through the hills so I would have something left. 7:15, 7:13, 7:13, 6:58. At mile 7, Travis said he was feeling good and took off. I told him to go for it. I picked it up and finished the last 3 in 7:02, 6:43, and 6:45.

Finish time 1:10:38. 7:04 pace. Not a PR but a whole lot faster than I planned or expected. I'm now 14th in my age group in the Distance Challenge.

Training for Boston

After a month of laying around and enjoying my finish at St. George, it's finally time to start training for Boston. My training group starts this Saturday.

Lists: Halloween Costumes I Saw

1. Spiderman
2. A sexy pirate
3. Used car salesman
4. Several witches
5. Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Carribean) driving a Toyota.
6. Clown
7. A box of Kleenex
8. Tony Romo
9. A kitty
10. A banana
11. A priest and a nun
12. Ronald McDonald