2007 in Review

I can hardly believe that it has been several months since my last post! The new job I mentioned takes up considerable time and effort, some of it due to the poor management of my predecessor. Anyway, here is a recap of my 2007 running.

2007 is the first year in a long time I have run consistently and maintained a real program. As a returning beginner to the sport of running, only much older than before, I consulted several runners online and in my neighborhood. I generally used the writings of John Bingham and Hal Higdon for reference material.
March 3, 2007 - Spring Fever 5K - 38:45 This was my first real competitive event and I was satisfied with my time and experiencing this event.
March 10, 2007 - Bayou City Classic 10K - 1:16:45 I ran a slightly faster rate here just a week later. This was a big city event--very lively and exciting. It was a nice practice for my first long distance race to come.
April 1, 2007 - Big D Half Marathon - 2:58:24 The Aprils Fool's Day joke was on me and many other runners as a major accident blocked the primary highway access to the starting area of the race. I finally made it to the starting line 26 minutes after the start (which was held up for around 15 minutes already) and there were many others later than I. Fortunately, I found the course markers and enjoyed the day. Unfortunately, the chip mats were off by the time I arrived so my official time is based on the gun time (3:24:01, oh well....)
September 20, 2007 - Chevron Houston Marathon 5K Kick-off Party - 38:38 It wasn't that I only beat me earlier 5K by a measly 6 seconds. It was that I did it on a hot, muggy summer's late afternoon/evening compared to the previous 5K run during ideal weather!
October 13, 2007 - Ten for Texas - 2:01:11 A nice run in The Woodlands, Texas through much of the community with a great after-party! I expect I would have broken 2 hours if it wasn't such a warm morning.
October 28, 2007 - Koala Houston Half - 2:35:52 The weather was slightly better than one week earlier and my performance improved for this run. I was very happy to have dropped over 22 minutes at this distance in less than 7 months.
November 3, 2007 - Rocky Raccoon 25K Trail Run - 3:46:26 Given this was my first real trail run and that I had run hard two of the last three weekends, I made this run at a nice recovery run pace. I really enjoyed this one.
December 8, 2007 - Sunmart Texas Trail Endurance Run 50K - 10:19:52 I hadn't really prepared for this distance, but wanted to give it a try. My plan was to take it easy and replicate my 25K pace from the month before. Unfortunately, the weather was unseasonably warm, so I adjusted my plan back down a bit to avoid problems. I went along well until somewhere around mile 22, where blisters were setting in. I ended up treating the blisters and walking pretty much the rest of the distance, finally finishing 2 - 2.5 hours slower than I had expected. However, over 400 of the 1,100 some registrants did not even finish, mostly due to the very warm and humid conditions.

All in all, I have to feel it was a successful first year for me.