Sportybrains

I love Springtime in my little athletic slice of Suburbia! Based on the current conversation in the training group, the signs going up on the roads, and the increase in sunshine and temperatures mean that The Woodlands Marathon and Half Marathon is already next weekend. This is a race I have a history with already: The first year I was the number 1 seed in the half, then you can guess what happened....then last year I really challenged myself in my first and only to date coordinator position putting together a pretty nice elite field throwing down some even nicer times on a near perfect day. Thanks to Mr. Jon Walk-the event's media coordinator, I also got the opportunity to speak at the outdoor expo on the psychology or running (of course!) last year.

So what about this season? A little bit of the same-I get to talk again, except this time I am not standing out in the wind and 40-something degree temps and hope to bring a more improved, user-friendly presentation at the Waterway Marriott on Friday, Feb. 28th. For local readers, I am slated to talk at 2 PM discussing  the 'Five Basic Mental Skills' for distance running. I also get to do something unprecedented: participate.
Like I get to lace up and wear a bib and chase the Flintridge "hills" and everything. While I'm not doing the event solo this year, I could not resist but team up with my friend Carrie who is coming off a foot injury as we run the new single-loop course as a relay team.

I decided this last weekend and it was pretty much a no-brainer. I was planning on running 13 miles that morning anyway, why not do it getting some more practice running in a crowd and with some swag at the end? I do enjoy running relays-for both the friendship and team aspect as much as I don't put as much pressure on myself for some reason. At this point, I don't think it's necessarily wise to get out there and go nuts, but I do think a nice steady tempo effort may be the order of the day. Regardless, its another milestone back into the 'full time' (for a working gal) athlete role. Wishing everyone a great race next weekend! Hope to see some of you at the expo.

Stay the course.