Yeah, "moxie", cause I had nothing else.
But it works, cause there was lots of it yesterday, before there were lots of mimosas and migas.
We couldn't have asked for better weather, I think - 44 at the start, humid, but not too stifling with the temperature, and partly to mostly down-hilly through the morning.
Big congratulations to our first-time half marathoners: Eve, who came in 2:08 after she started, looking just as cheerful as usual; Stacy, who I will admit surprised me a little with a 2:30:11; Jacala, who managed to lose her chip at some point, but came in somewhere in the 2:30-2:40 range, and didn't complain about anything; and Carmen, who rebounded somewhat from, but still pushed through, her IT band troubles to edge in under three hours, with a 2:58 and change.
Just behind her, finishing her second half marathon, was Debbie. She's pushed herself through a lot of the runs, sometimes against my advice, though she's also had the discipline to draw the line when she had to. Yesterday, she fought through some pain and put on a show with a strong, gutsy finish. She came in at 3:08:24, besting her 3:14:07 performance at Motive back in 2004.
Kellie was her usual, smooth, machine-like self, and her 2:10:17 was also a PR, beating her 2:16:33 set at Motive in 2006.
Jim, looking suspiciously shorter, more Hispanic, and more entirely like Daniel, finished in 2:18:26, which was curiously also about a minute and a half better than Daniel's goal for the day. Thanks, Jim, for letting Daniel run in your stead, and we hope you're feeling better.
After waffling whether she really wanted to run that hard for 13 miles, Christina decided to take a potshot at her one previous half marathon time of 1:53 (big surprise). I have never been happier not to go on a run with her, since she ran 8:12's to get to a 1:47:27. I was quite happy to not die, but still PR by 8 minutes with a 1:56:37.
Paul succombed again to various pains, probably deciding to save his all-or-nothing effort for AT&T in three weeks.
Big thanks to Michelle for playing course mom, and letting me throw sweaty, snotty-sleeved shirts at her (did you not know about the snot? Sorry...). Thanks also to Christine, who showed up at mile 12 to give us a boost before entering the weird purgatory of the UT campus. She even made a sign...
Afterwards, everyone trouped up to Trudy's, the place where my own running journey sort of began years ago, where many waffles and... alcohols were had (I'll post the picture later tonight).
Thanks so much, Debbie, for picking up the tab for a bunch of hungry runner lushes. That was above and beyond.
I was primarily happy that everyone seemed to be smiling. It was a good day, and our first big payoff for the commitment and sacrifices and early mornings and the aches and pains. I think we were learned or were reminded why we do this.
So, for these final weeks, just stay focused, and you know... don't slack!
But it works, cause there was lots of it yesterday, before there were lots of mimosas and migas.
We couldn't have asked for better weather, I think - 44 at the start, humid, but not too stifling with the temperature, and partly to mostly down-hilly through the morning.
Big congratulations to our first-time half marathoners: Eve, who came in 2:08 after she started, looking just as cheerful as usual; Stacy, who I will admit surprised me a little with a 2:30:11; Jacala, who managed to lose her chip at some point, but came in somewhere in the 2:30-2:40 range, and didn't complain about anything; and Carmen, who rebounded somewhat from, but still pushed through, her IT band troubles to edge in under three hours, with a 2:58 and change.
Just behind her, finishing her second half marathon, was Debbie. She's pushed herself through a lot of the runs, sometimes against my advice, though she's also had the discipline to draw the line when she had to. Yesterday, she fought through some pain and put on a show with a strong, gutsy finish. She came in at 3:08:24, besting her 3:14:07 performance at Motive back in 2004.
Kellie was her usual, smooth, machine-like self, and her 2:10:17 was also a PR, beating her 2:16:33 set at Motive in 2006.
Jim, looking suspiciously shorter, more Hispanic, and more entirely like Daniel, finished in 2:18:26, which was curiously also about a minute and a half better than Daniel's goal for the day. Thanks, Jim, for letting Daniel run in your stead, and we hope you're feeling better.
After waffling whether she really wanted to run that hard for 13 miles, Christina decided to take a potshot at her one previous half marathon time of 1:53 (big surprise). I have never been happier not to go on a run with her, since she ran 8:12's to get to a 1:47:27. I was quite happy to not die, but still PR by 8 minutes with a 1:56:37.
Paul succombed again to various pains, probably deciding to save his all-or-nothing effort for AT&T in three weeks.
Big thanks to Michelle for playing course mom, and letting me throw sweaty, snotty-sleeved shirts at her (did you not know about the snot? Sorry...). Thanks also to Christine, who showed up at mile 12 to give us a boost before entering the weird purgatory of the UT campus. She even made a sign...
Afterwards, everyone trouped up to Trudy's, the place where my own running journey sort of began years ago, where many waffles and... alcohols were had (I'll post the picture later tonight).
Thanks so much, Debbie, for picking up the tab for a bunch of hungry runner lushes. That was above and beyond.
I was primarily happy that everyone seemed to be smiling. It was a good day, and our first big payoff for the commitment and sacrifices and early mornings and the aches and pains. I think we were learned or were reminded why we do this.
So, for these final weeks, just stay focused, and you know... don't slack!
2 comments:
Geez... I knew I should have let Maya pee on it!
Thanks Michelle, I think I saw you 3 times out there at various places on the road. And also thanks to Mirsa who I saw cheering us on at Burnet road (I missed Christine.) Thanks to Rob and Jacala for running with me the very last bit when the finish line seemed very, very far away even though I was staring at it. Thanks to Kellie for getting me in to this fine mess, and of course thank you Debbie for paying for our post run celebration. And thanks to everyone for staying around to cheer- I know it was a long wait for some of you!
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