Somehow more than six months have passed since I last sat down to write in this space. Some pretty great things happened in that time too: Kerrville Triathlon, DRC Half Marathon, Rockledge Rumble, the North Texas Turkey Trot, and Dallas Marathon Half. Maybe I will circle back and catch these sometime, but for now I am going to focus on more current times. I have missed blogging and I have decided to try to do monthly recaps in 2022 instead of individual race recaps. We'll see how this goes!
New Year's Day
When you wake up to spring weather and January 1st is on a Saturday, you go and ride your bike! I hadn't been outside on my bike since late October so it sure felt great to hit the open roads with Mr K and Colleen. We had to take advantage of the mild morning because by nightfall temperatures had plunged to below freezing with a strong north wind. Insert cliche about Texas weather here....
Hotcake Hustle 10K
I had gotten away from running races even before everything was cancelled in 2020. I found myself in a pattern of racing one or two really BIG races each year and let many of the shorter, smaller races go by the wayside. Now that races are back, I realize how much I've missed them and I made it a goal to race at least once each month. January 8 brought the first race of the year: the Hotcake Hustle 10K. This is a longstanding local race, but I'd never run it before. The NTX Turkey Trot was the first 10K I'd run in years and my goal was to run it just a little bit faster than I'd run that race.
I haven't done much speedwork, but I have been working on running steady, focused, and patient. The weather was in the upper 40s with a light rain - pretty good for running but pretty miserable for standing around before and after the race. I really enjoyed this course through Oak Point Park, especially after the turnaround in mile 4 because I knew that the there wouldn't be any more hills and that we would get a gentle downhill. This worked perfectly with my plan to keep things steady and controlled until mile 4 when I planned to let her rip. I got it done 5 seconds faster than the Turkey Trot so I took that as a win for the day. The biggest win, however, were the post race pancakes that I enjoyed with Mr K and Colleen.
Too Cold To Hold 13.1
On January 29 I ran the Too Cold To Hold half marathon at White Rock Lake. This was one of my favorite races back in the day and it felt great to get back to it after 7 years away. Where does the time go? Race morning was bustling as there was also a 5K and a 10K in addition to the half marathon and we saw many familiar faces. The weather was a perfect 35 degrees with big sunshine and very little wind.
My plan was similar to the Hotcake Hustle - run steady through the first half and then gradually pick up the speed until mile 10 then let her rip. My goal was also similar: run just a little bit faster than the Dallas Marathon Half in December. This would be another step in regaining my running mojo, a process that I started back in November. I got off to a great start and ran smoothly and conservatively until the turn around just after mile 7. White Rock lake was simply gorgeous and it was easy to focus on the beautiful surroundings and just cruise. Once I got past the turnaround, I was able to focus on runners ahead of me to pick off while steadily dropping the pace. I was in such a good space mentally, it feels so good to break out of that negative headspace I had been racing in during the last couple of years.
I executed this race exactly as I planned and crossed the finish line 2 minutes and 15 seconds faster than my run at Dallas Marathon half and over 6 minutes faster than the DRC Half in November. My comeback is well underway! I also got to race in my Coeur Sports 2022 Ambassador Team kit for the first time. I feel fortunate for another year of racing on this team and I try my best to be a positive force on the race course.
2022 Plans
What is coming up in 2022? I plan to run Cowtown Half in February and Grasslands Trail Half in March. That will take me into my favorite season - triathlon season - where I have some big plans. I'm super excited to be racing Musselman 70.3 in Geneva, NY this July!
Several of my Coeur Sports teammates will be racing as well and I'm so excited to meet many of them in person for the first time. I will also be racing Kerrville Triathlon Festival 70.3 in September.
I have been selected as a race ambassador for Kerrville Triathlon and I'm really excited to return to the Kerrvillle and "the most scenic triathlon in Texas" You can join the fun - use discount code KennemerKerrTri2022 for $10 off your race registration.
I couldn't ask for a better start to 2022! I'm looking forward to great year of training hard and racing happy.
