Brandilyn Carpenter ran the Houston Half Marathon 10k and finished with a time of 1:21:53.
Not my best race. Didn’t sleep well last night. As for the race itself. I started too fast. I knew I did, but I couldn’t make myself pull back as I was last at the time. Mental game won that one. Started out walking the water stops after mile 2. After mile 3 or 4 I was run/walk/running. Hit the wall about 5 miles give or take. It was hot and humid for the second half. Sprinted the last 300m.
Beth Montgomery ran the Bronx 10 Miler and finished this distance in the time of 1:35:33. This was a massive personal record by 14:40.
I felt really strong and consistent throughout the entire distance. There was quite a bit of elevation gain and loss, but that allowed me to concentrate more and break the race up into smaller sections to motivate myself.
Chang Sun ran the Fall Tuneup 5k with a finishing time of 19:29. This was a PR by 15 seconds!
I did the tuneup run on the track. I slowed down the starting pace but still was not able to do a negative split. It was more “”painful”” than I expected. I am glad I dig in to finish the run.
Suzanne Anderson ran the Fox Valley Marathon and finished this race in the time of 4:30:15.
This was my first marathon since 2018 so I was really excited and nervous! The heavy rain held off until I was done but the cloud cover and little bit of drizzle was great! The course had more rolling hills than I anticipated.
My goal was 4:20:00 but I ended up way off – didn’t finish until 4:30:15. I felt really really good until mile 21 when I started having a stomach ache. I ended up only taking 3 gels and didn’t take in any Gatorade once I started to feel uncomfortable.
My pace slowed drastically in miles 23 – 26. I don’t know if it was my stomach ache, lack of fuel or just my inability to stay tough and push through that resulted in my less than hoped for performance. I did feel well trained so I don’t think it was a lack of fitness.
Even though I missed my goal, I’m going to use this as my starting point for improvement. My PR was set way back in 2015. Excited to see how I can improve going forward!
David Cooper ran the Sprint Triathlon (5k) and finished in a time of 21:58.
This race was the running section of a sprint triathlon. 750m Swim, 20km Bike, 5k Run.
The run portion was 4.66km in the end, flat, but with 4 small bridges to go over and 6 sections of steep steps to climb.
I was already low on energy after the swim and bike, so the run was more a case of hanging on. I did pass someone who left me for dust on the bike, so was pleased with that. Most importantly I didn’t have pain in my knee or hamstring/abductor attachments which was good. 8th overall in my age group, and the fastest swim! Not bad for my first sprint triathlon.
Jeffery Larson ran the Pikes Peak Marathon and completed this race event in the time of 3:12:00.
Wow. Where do I start? Coming from 600 ft above sea level to 6800 ft was a big change (climbing to over 14,000 ft). The couple of shake out runs immediately dropped my garmin derived VO2 max by 3 points. Leading up to race day, the weather report was looking pretty rough. The base of the mountain would be in the 40s, mid-mountain would be drizzle and 20-30s, while the peak would be below 20 with wind chill and snowy. Trying to think about the layers of clothing that I’d need to change during the course was challenging enough.
We got a notification about 2 hrs before the race start that the course would be cut short. The turn around would be 7.6 miles giving a full course length of 15.2 miles. This meant that I didn’t have to carry my heaviest layers and I could manage with just the running belt instead of including the running vest.
The most difficult incline/decline is the road to/from Manitou Springs and the trail. It was very easy to start burning matches if you felt that you had to run. Once on the trail, there were many conga lines and I used these to help keep my overall effort in check. I would stay hiking with a group until I was sustaining HR in the 140s. Once there was an opportunity to pass, I would do so and allow my HR to climb up to 160 which usually allowed me to catch the tail end of the next group.
At the turn-around, I felt good. I’m confident that I could have completed the full ascent (barring weather). I did well enough on the down mountain running, but I felt that I lacked skill to maintain speed as I watched others pass me with seemingly reckless abandon. I did trip a few times and only once actually fall. Leaving the trail and back on the road, I was able to pick up speed, passed a number of runners, and finished the race running under 5 min/mi pace.
Christina Kach ran the Lone Gull 10K, finishing this distance in the time of 55:30.
Came back for Lone Gull, year 2 and did SO MUCH better! Last year I positive splitted – this year I negative split. The course was the exact same and, somehow, the weather was the exact same too! Complete with high humidity and strong strong winds from the ocean And I did it all 77 seconds faster – coming in at my 4th fastest 10K ever. This gave me a good confidence boost – if I can just get myself on a 50 degree totally flat 10K course I could really fly! haha. Also Teeing up the Wine Glass Half in two weeks with a little extra confidence.
