I'm Baaaaaaack

So, I tested the waters in the Runner's World community by posting a couple of blogs there. Turns out that my one reader, at least the one that leaves comments, couldn't leave comments. Therefore, this is for my brother. I'm back. With a vengeance. I have lots of races to report... Here goes:
San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Relay, 5.31.09
B and I packed up our bags and headed to the West Coast so I could run with three of my friends in the marathon relay. I had been doing 10K specific training for about a month and just come off a 5K PR, so I was ready to race at 10K at sea level with two downhill miles. At the expo I get my bib number and drumstick/baton. I got some inspiration from the cheetahs at the world famous San Diego Zoo and then ate dinner with my teammates at the Soup Plantation.
The morning of the race I go into Corral 1. I've never thought that I should line up that close to the elites, but we were planning on breaking 3 hours for the marathon. I think I should get in Corral 1 from now on, though. There were first time marathoners, people who said they wanted to finish in 3:40 or slower. They obviously didn't read the corral-pace guide.
The national anthem was sung and then the gun was fired. We were off!!
My Garmin logged the following bits of information for this race:
mile 1 - 7:13.65
mile 2 - 7:01.18
mile 3 - 6:57.39
mile 4 - 6:21.94 (downhill)
mile 5 - 6:37.54 (downhill)
mile 6 - 7:16.33
mile 0.67 - 4:49.84
I set several PRs during this run: 2 mi (miles 3-4) - 12:59.48, 5 K (miles 1.9-5) - 20:31.0, 10 K (0-6.2) - 43:36

The race had a chip mat set up at the 10K mark, but the baton exchange wasn't until 6.67 miles. I was very please with my time and with out my team ran. Here are their results:
Leg 1 @ 6.2 mi - 43:36
Leg 2 @ 13.1 mi - 47:27
Leg 3 @ 21 mi - 51:20
Leg 4 @ 26.2 mi - 35:10
With a final time of 2:57:32!

Levelland Lope 10K, 6.13.09
From January to June 10 I had been dealing with pain in my ankle that had only been getting worse and worse. I had decided that if it was still hurting after San Diego I would go to the doctor. Well, I put that off until it was hurting during the day. I had typically been feeling pain only during runs. I visited my PCP and she ran some X-rays that came back inconclusive, but abnormal. So we scheduled an MRI for Friday morning (June 12, the day before the race). Apparently, I had an edema in my fibula which she consulted with an orthopedist and they concluded it was a stress fracture. Well, that just didn't make sense to me. My pain was on the inside of my ankle, the fibula is on the outside. She told me previously that I could run the race, but the only way it would heal was to get off it and rest. I decided to run this race and then take two weeks off from running.
I got to the race and realized my Garmin hadn't been charging overnight. The batteries were out. Luckily my sister-in-law is borrowing my old running watch, so I was able to use that one.
Here are the splits from this race:
mile 1 - 7:07.73
mile 2 - 7:28.20
mile 3 - 7:37.75
mile 4 - 8:01.50
mile 5 - 8:32.19
mile 6 - 8:00.56
mile 0.2 - 1:23.00
Total - 45:55

I was very pleased with my time, but there was a bit of drama in this race. The race started and I passed a girl we'll call "Blondie." She had on short pink shorts that rode up with every other step. She was pulling them down on the opposite steps. Ahead of her I saw another girl I'll call "Sports Bra." This girl looks like a triathlete. She's very fit and looks like she has about 5% body fat. I was pretty jealous.
I'm right behind Sports Bra for about two miles and then I pass her. At this point I'm pretty sure I'm in first place for the women. Luckily this is an out and back course, so at the 5K turnaround I'm 99% sure that there are no other women in front of me.
Fast forward to the finish line... I turn the corner to enter the parking lot and there's Blondie trotting along to the chute. "What?!" I think to myself, "She must have be running the two mile." I still kick it to the finish and she ends up finishing 5 seconds ahead of me.
I ask, "Did you run the two mile or the 10K?"
"The 10K," says Blondie.
I'm so confused, so I start talking to some of my running buddies. No one remembers her until the very end of the race. At this point they are already giving out the awards and they called Blondie's name as the overall female winner. She's already left.
So I go to Sports Bra and ask if she thinks she should have been second for the women. Her boyfriend jumps up, "I thought that one of you two should have won it!" So he runs over to the guy giving out the awards to say that the results are wrong. Another runner said they saw her turn at the two mile mark. After all these testimonies they recalibrate the results and announce that I was the overall female winner! This was an awesome way to go into my recovery from my ankle injury.
I haven't seen Blondie at a club race since.

XIT Rodeo 5K, 8/8/09
This race was held in my husband's hometown. We ran this after coming back from vacation and as a test to see how I could race after trying to let my ankle heal. My goal was to run 7:45 pace. This was also my sister-in-law's first 5K! Here are my results:
mile 1 - 7:37.69
mile 2 - 7:57.06
mile 3 - 7:45.94
mile 0.1 - 27.18
Total - 23:48 (7:40 pace)

This race also had some drama. They were announcing the results and called my sister-in-law's name as the winner of my age group. I asked them if they meant me, and they looked back at the bib numbers and determined that there was a mix up. I won my age group and she got 5th. Still an awesome race for her first 5K!

Shallowater Stampede 10K, 9.12.09
My first 10K since the injury was diagnosed. My hubby and his sister were racing here. This would be her first 10K ever. I ran:
mile 1 - 7:39.26
mile 2 - 7:28.05
mile 3 - 7:20.65
mile 4 - 7:23.85
mile 5 - 7:22.87
mile 6 - 7:13.99
mile 0.2 - 1:30.83
Total - 45:59
22/108 overall, 3/33 women, 1/11 age group

B ran 58:13 and beat his sister who ran ran 58:16.

Red Raider Road Race 10K, 10.10.09
And now to this past weekend's race. I wanted to run this 10K faster than 45 minutes. According to the McMillan Race Predictor a 45:00 10K means I can run a marathon in 3:31:11. This is very close to my 3:30 goal for the Dallas Whiterock Marathon I'm training for. I ended up running:
mile 1 - 7:13.24
mile 2 - 7:16.69
mile 3 - 7:11.78
mile 4 - 7:14.30
mile 5 - 7:11.04
mile 6 - 7:07.63
mile 0.2 (0.33 for Garmin) - 2:11.26
Total - 45:24
28/189 overall, 2/86 women, 1/11 age group

B ran 51:58; He cut off ~6 min from his previous 10K without having run at all since then! P90X must be working!
My Garmin measured this course a little long at 6.33 mi. I was still very pleased with my time even if it was exactly 6.2 mi.

Now that I'm caught up I will try to stay caught up. Thanks for reading!