Catching up

I've been pretty busy - and I'll prove it.  Remember how that last post was about how HOT the RNR half marathon was?  Well, this is South Texas, where things change fast.

On Thanksgiving, I ran the Great Turkey 5k Challenge downtown - cold enough to make me wear a jacket AND pants and gloves.  I really don't like running in pants or cold...

Then, there was the 3rd Annual Santa Antonio 5k on December 1, 2013.  I was back in a skirt, herding course marshals.  We had a fantastic turn out of over 700 Santas!

Then?  You guessed it, it became cold again.  Really cold.

I 'winged' the Spicewood half marathon on December 7, 2013 (I really should train for these things).

 these pics were actually a re-enactment - our photographer Michele was freezing and was inside, warming up, when I passed her post at this tree - so these are posed (which is why I have a bottle of wine in my hand and look waaay warmer in the 29 degree temps)

But these are real finish line pics - that was a TOUGH course - out and back with killer hills, cold, and WIND.  And, of course, the no-training thing.  So, after winding down with some wine tasting to finish out the weekend, I hit the downtown lights running tour on Tuesday, December 10, 2013.

This past Saturday, I ran the Girls on the Run 5k but, being middle/grade-school girls, they didn't have post-run beer, so I headed over to the SARR Missions 5/10 mile race for post-race libations.

(back in a skirt, but chilly)
Saturday evening, I ran the Huarache Turbo anniversary relay and party.  They matched 'slow' runners up with 'fast' runners for a 4 x 1/2 mile cross country relay. 

Now if Leon had just not been a 'slow' runner and turned in sub-3:00 half miles, we could have finished better than 12th!  But, he got his wine, and I got my Huarache Turbo shirt, so I'll cut him some slack.  Afterward, we ate tamales and pozole - and celebrated Huarache Turbo's first anniversary.  (Ceci & Rogelio - in green above - created Huarache Turbo, the company that designs and produces the SARR Women's 5k shirts - I was invoice #1 for the company!)

And that's my wrap up - it's been cold, then hot, then cold, then warmish, and back to coldish.  I've squeezed every dollar's worth of value out of my Santa jacket and peppermint gear.  Oh, and I'm also, apparently, broken.

I guess I've actually been in a lot of pain, after all.  So, I'll blame all of my slow finishes on that L5-S1, work on treatment, and come back to be the 'fast' one in the next Huarache Turbo relay.

Some like it hot...

And some like it cold.  Para mi, I like medium, but here in South Texas, there is no such thing.  Last Sunday, I parked my car (fo' free) at the Pearl Brewery, checked out a B-cycle, and biked my not-trained-for-a-half-marathon butt the 3 miles to the Rock N Roll San Antonio Half Marathon start.  When I arrived at the start, I was already soaking wet with sweat in the 78 degree, 99% humidity morning weather.

Then, there was the matter of running 13.1 miles.  The first 3 weren't so bad, until I passed my car at the Pearl Brewery, the sun broke out, and I knew the monster hill was coming up.  Then, the wheels fell off, and I just worked to cross the finish line one way or another.  And it was ugly...

 NOTHING is better than ice cold water.  Really, nothing.

About mile 7.5 - I was toast, but luckily, Brak Pak friends had the Brak Pak truck "Tom" on the route with ice-cold water.  And only 5.6 to go...I stopped at mile 9 and drank a beer, because I'm a serious athlete and all.  So, I really needed these sponges at about mile 11...

And then, there was the bitter end...

 Pretty much "Dear Dog, please make this end"

And then I remembered to try to look fabulous.  Right.

And then, I was finally done.  Slowest half marathon ever for me.

And then we re-enacted the Bataan death march to my buddies' car

As I have said for each of the 7 or 8 half marathons I ran this year - I'm NOT running another HM without training (except for December 7th, but after that, I really may kind of try to stick to that statement somewhat).

So, how could I possibly follow up that misery?  Well, with a bit of a cold front.  Today, I ran the Ready.AIM.Run 5k, better known as the courthouse 5k, with my brethren professionals of the San Antonio Bar Association.  Start temp? 39 degrees, and again, 99% humidity.  Yep, basically, half the degrees with the misty humidity.  Lovely.  The Kenyans (yes, real Kenyans were there) ran a pace of 5:18, chattering like teenagers, while I managed just less than twice that speed.

Yeah, pants are for wimps.  Next weekend's temps for the Santa Antonio 5K are supposed to, again, be miserably warm, so we should, once again, have stripping Santas.  Crazy San Antonio weather!

Thanks to Ceci, Celia, Bertha, Victor, Lana, Dulce, Michele, and MarathonFoto for the pics.