Hubig Pie Run

Yesterday I ran what is fast becoming my favorite lunchtime CBD/French Quarter route.   Well I guess its now CBD/FQ/Faubourg Marigny route as I cross into the Marigny after hitting Esplanade at the back of the quarter.

While I have run this route a couple of times and have noted the Hubig Pie factory on Dauphine street, I never experienced the sweet aroma of pies baking while running.  I swear I gained a couple of pounds just taking in the smell of sweetness while I ran down Royal, a block off but the wind blowing the smell my way.  On the way back, I passed right in front of the factory but the smell had faded. 

Mission accomplished.  I got in a good 7+ mile weekday run and put my Sunday non motivated 10 mile run behind me.

Clydesdale Motivation

This Sunday was my 3rd consecutive weekend long training run.  Mileage today was 10 miles; it was just one of those days where I never got comfortable running.  If I hadn't run an out and back run, I probably would have cut the run short.  Legs were fine.... I just never got into a groove.

A big motivating factor for me since the Louisiana Half last month was my realization that I could have completed in the Clydesdale division for the race.  The Tammany trace has a horse trail along with running/walking and biking.  I smile everytime I see the horse trail signs.

Toto didn't tell me Kansas had hills

This should be interesting after months of pancake flat training and races.  I look forward to the challenge in Leavenworth, Kansas May 20th!

January is in the books

I hate to spoil a good thing by committing it to writing but I seemed to have finally turned the corner with my achilles tendonitits issues that have plagued me the past few months.  Two weeks now of much less pain and I've been able to increase the miles.  I wound up with 88  miles for the month; 12 miles short of an ultra race for you 100 mile racers out there.  27 miles more than the 61 that I logged in January 2011.  That puts me on pace for a 1,000 mile year.  That hasn't happened the past 2 (or is it 3) years.

I'll take it.

It seems like winter has thrown in the towel for the moment at least.  After several roller coaster weeks of hot and then cold weather, its been really mild (and humid) the past week.  Makes you think we are in a different J month, say June compared to January.  Nah, I'd love to have this mild weather in June.

Registered for state number 46

I will be visiting Kansas for the first time ever (I think) to run state number 46 May 20th.  This will mark my third time flying into Kansas City International airport to travel to a race.  I believe that breaks a tie for the arrival airport for races for me!  Not to be outdone by arrivals, I will be departing out of Baton Rouge for the first time for a race.  Given the fact that I'm not much further from Baton Rouge's airport than New Orleans and that I'd be connecting with either airport, price was the deciding factor in my selecting Baton Rouge.

I'll be running Five Trails Half Marathon in Leavenworth, Kansas.  It is a small event run on a loop course with easy parking.  I am leaning towards smaller races with efficient race logistics these days.  While Rock n Roll and Disney type large events with transportation needed to and/or from the start and finish are exciting and appealing, I go through phases where events where trying to not get lost due to so few participants on the coursse are just as appealing.

Inaugural Louisiana Half Marathon

Wow.  No posts in November or December..... except for a weekend training run the first weekend in November my posting and weekend running for that time period lines up perfectly.

My 2011 fall running season can best be described as how not to train for a half marathon.  The good news is that I ran on average 3 times a week for much of the fall.  The not so good news is that I averaged 5 miles on those runs.  Not bad for the general public.....not good for training for mid to long distance races.

After completing the 3rd annual Jazz Half (my 2nd consecutive) the last weekend in October, I looked forward to having plenty of time to train properly for the Louisiana Half.  That didn't happen.  I blamed myself for lack of motivation; however, I believe things may turn around for my next training session which just began.  I have been having Achilles issues since May of last year.  I've had these issues before and they seem to linger for what seems like forever, resolving themself on their own timetable.  While the Achilles is just tender to the touch and sensitive when both walking and running, it is not an acute injury that will keep you from running altogether.  As such, my training the past few months has been on the light side but still there; when co-workers comment that I'm walking funny, I know its time to back off the running.

I was really pleased with the Louisiana Marathon/Half experience this past weekend.  The race was marketed as an alternative for those that did not get into Houston.  For me, it was a better experience than Houston as I'm presently on the smaller events kick.  My biggest complaint about the event is that they advertised no day of race pickup so I had to drive the expo Saturday to pick up my race packet and then back for the race Sunday morning.  I realize they want you at the expo to view sponsors stuff and all, but you go to enough of these expos and they really all start to look alike.

The weather for the weekend was made to order for runners in my opinion.  It was in the mid 30s at the start and around 45 when I finished nearly 2 hours later.  I believe my splits below indicate my level of training/fitness was good for almost 10 miles.  The last 5k was tough for me. 

Mile 1 9:25
Mile 2 8:55
Mile 3 8:43
Mile 4 8:59
Mile 5 8:58 4&5 were tracked together on my splits and included a potty break
Mile 6 8:17 thanks to the much appreciated potty break
Mile 7 8:46
Mile 8 8:34
Mile 9 9:02
Mile 10 9:33
Mile 11 9:16
Mile 12 9:11
Mile 13 9:42
Last .1 1:05
Chip time: 1:58:17

Half marathon 63 is in the books.  Just 37 more 1/2's to meet the Half 2 Run group's 100 half marathon challenge.  Well maybe just 35 as I believe 25k's count as well!

Jazz Half Marathon

When I signed up for this race in early March, my training was going really well.  I intended to challenge my PR on this fast, flat course in New Orleans. Two months later after completin.g back to back halfs, my training fell off the side of a cliff with work and later moving taking huge chunks of my time.  Add in achilles tendonitis in both legs and my weekly mileage dropped to single digits.

Since moving back to Louisiana early August, I had logged one weekend long run along with 2 half marathons prior to this race.  Since the Gulf Coast 1/2 3 weeks prior to this weekend, I had 4 5 mile weekday runs.  With all that said, I was totally pleased with my time of 1:55 in this race.  The weather was to my liking with start temps in the lower 50s.  There was a brisk 10-20 mph wind but with the course being looped, there were head, tail and cross winds.  I definetely can deal with wind better than heat.

The start and finish were moved to near Lafayette Square this year.  This gave more room for the post race party; otherwise, the course was the same as last year's course.

With the Louisiana Marathon and Half 11 weeks away, I'm ready to start training properly for this upcoming race.  I'm now officially down to one house and am pretty much done with getting settled in so no excuses for those weekend long runs!

Thanks to the New Orleans Saints 55 point beatdown on the Indianapolis Colts, I'm now registered for Rock N Roll New Orleans in early March.  I don't think competitor envisioned a 55 point spread when coming up with their promotion for discounted registration the day after Saints games.  $1 per point netted me a 1/2 marathon registration under $40.  The savings have been capped at $21 for future discounts.