Running into Fall

Wow. Nothing like taking a 2 month hiatus from blogging to help retain readers :) Of course, it helps to have readers to retain (hi mom!). Truth is I haven't had much to write about. I haven't had any events to train for since finishing Ride the Rockies in June so have just been working to maintain my weight and fitness level.


With the Hankster and Woody at the finish of RTR 2012.

I have also been transitioning from riding to running in anticipation of several Fall running events. Its my favorite time of year for running. My two fastest half marathons were run in September and October. Two years ago I set my personal best at 1:46:00 in the Waddell and Reed Kansas City Half Marathon. One year ago  I ran a 1:46:43 in the Rock 'n' Roll Denver half. My goal this year was to run one of these two events in sub-8 miles and break 1:45.

Me and Elvis at the finish of last year's Rock 'n' Roll Denver half.

Problem is I never pulled the trigger and registered for either event! Denver is next Saturday. I have until tomorrow to decide whether to register. I am following my two-week half marathon training program, so will be ready to run. The only problem is pulling the trigger on the $115 registration fee. That's a lot of money to pay to torture myself!

I'd really love to get back to KC to try and break my personal record. Unfortunately the $40 I could save on the registration fee wouldn't offset the travel costs to get there!

So I'm thinking I'm just going to focus my efforts this Fall on the first-ever Beefin It Up; Fuel for the Finish 5K Run/Walk 10K Run in Mandan, North Dakota, on October 6. I was invited by the North Dakota Cattlewomen to be the official spokesrunner for the event! I will be doing some TV interviews on Friday then running the 10K on Saturday.

My goal is to run a sub-50 minute race with a stretch goal to average 7:45/mile and break 48:00. I've only run two 10Ks before and my best is 55:29 at the Fans on the Field run in 2007. So this would be a significant improvement, to say the least. But I think it's doable. I'm running in the low 8:00s around my home at 6,400 ft and above (Mandan sits at 1,944) and I still have three weeks to train.

But there's still the Denver half next week. Should I do it??

Daren