All running all the time

This weekend was pretty much just running and watching the Oscars.  I'm not even training for a marathon, but Kathy is running Boston in April and a side-effect of her high mileage is that I've also racked up three 50+ mile weeks since the beginning of the year. As soon as I get a breather from work stuff I think I should look for a May or June marathon!  Can't let all this training go to 'waste'...

The weekend was tough on the legs though with a 10-km race (Rodeo Run) on Saturday (which we stretched to 10 miles total) and then a 20-mile training run on Sunday, part of it being a 5-k race, the second running and first official of the Run for Wellness 5K in George Bush Park.  This monthly free race (last Sunday of the month) is a lot of fun with probably the fastest, flattest track of any 5K in Houston, professional race management, post-race food for all and nice awards for top three male and female places.  And just to prove that age has nothing to do with it, the overall female winner this Sunday was Sabra Harvey, one of the fastest 60+ female runners in the world.  Sabra is coming back from an injury but she was looking great and has not lost her turn of speed. Just ask my friend Chris Adams ('Fast' Chris)  who thought he could challenge Sabra towards the end of the race.  Maybe next time buddy!

Here are a few pics I took at the Rodeo Run and the annual Houston Livestock and Rodeo parade which followed the run in downtown Houston.

Huge congestion at the start, it took me more than 3 miles to fight my way through walkers and much slower runners, never could make up the deficit but ran sub 50-minutes for the 10K so not too unhappy about that.

The Channel 13 TV Rodeo broadcast team in action

The dogs go along for the ride

This is how you get to be a good rider: start young!

We enjoyed an early lunch at Jenni's Noodle House after the run, Teddy's Not Gay for me and Artcar Curry for Kathleen

Run for Wellness 5K

The dogs trying to 'help' me with a medicine ball workout

 
There were several good things about this morning's inaugural Run for Wellness 5K such as a fast, flat course, perfect weather, not many runners and correct distance measurement.  As opposed to last week's 2.8 mile Rockets Run, this one was 3.1 miles on the dot.  I almost forgot: it was free - complete with numbers, expert timing, awards and post-run breakfast tacos.  Can't beat that!
 
My time of 23.01 is well off a PR time but moving in the right direction:  average pace of 7:25, a lot better than last week's 7:45!  Keep up this rate of improvement and I'll be running a sub 20-minute 5K in no time, right?  Of course not, it will take a huge commitment on my behalf to even get close to that highly desired goal.  For now, I will concentrate on knocking off another few seconds or so between now and the last Sunday in February.

100 Days of Weight Loss Day 34:  Listen to your body; stop right at the point of feeling comfortable, not stuffed.  Learn how to monitor fullness by listening to the source:  the abdominal muscles that cover the stomach.

Today:  171 lbs
Body fat percentage:  22%
Mileage for the week:  48
Mileage for the month to date: 157