Monday, December 08, 2008

Tucson 1/2 Marathon

So over this pastweekend I competed in the Tucson 1/2 marathon and it went well and we had a really good time. We left for Las Cruces on Friday so we could go out to eat and spend the night with my brother Mike and his family. We have not visited LC very much since moving so it was nice to visit with Mike and eat at Andele's in Mesilla. Emma loves her cousin Monique so much and I don't think they were asleep any ealier than midnight.

Saturday we picked up Lindsey's mom, Sue, and were off to Tucson. Sue being able to go with us made the trip that much more special and fun. I love spending time with her and it is always something I look forward to.

The race was on Sunday morning and lindsey graciously woke up and drove me to the start line so I was able to avoid the bus shuttles. The start was a little crowded as we had to navigate through a one lane raod and ond over the chip timing strips. The race thinned out by the first mile and I was off and running along the foothills with beautiful desert and mountain views. I started off running what I thought was a pace I could keep for the entire race. My mile splits were: 6:53, 7:03, 6:49, 6:52, 6:54, 6:41, 7:13, 6:49, 7:14, 7:21, ?, ?, ? for a total of 1:33 or an average of 7:09 per mile. The reason I did not get my last 3 mile splits is because as I found out, my watch only remembers 10 laps. I did feel like I slowed the last 3 miles and it makes sense that I did because my longest training runs had been 10 miles. Sometimes I try fooling myself as to what is adequate for myself for training. In order to race 13 miles hard you really have to be able to run 13 miles hard in Practice and overdistance long runs to 15 miles+.

I'm already thinking about running another half marathon in January in Tempe, AZ, and thinking about how I could run it faster. I know what it will take and I know I am capable of running the distance faster but putting it to reality is a little more difficult for me? And that is the dilema that I have been facing. I am still young and am capable of racing some personal records but I have not been able to be disciplined enough to put in the work required. I have really become soft and although I want the results I guess I don't want them bad enough.

It's a struggle. Stay tuned.


2 comments:

Tony said...

Not a bad time with all the busy stuff going on in your daily life.
By the way my parents were in Socorro two weeks ago. They stopped by this store that has an assortment of trail mix and beef jerky. I'm sure you know it.

Steven Montoya said...

Yeah bro, I know the place... they have some good stuff. I always go there before a road trip for jerky, fruits and nuts. If you ever want some mailed to you, let me know!