Houston 1/2 Marathon Recap by Tom

Tammy and I completed the Houston Half Marathon on Sunday! We had beautiful weather, with temperatures in the 60s. Half way into the race we discovered that this temperature is a little warm for distance running, and we sought the shade whenever we came across it. But it was a great temperature for the first half of the run, and we didn't freeze while waiting for the race start.

We began the day by waking up at 3:30am so we could be at the race meeting point by 5:30. We arrived in time to meet up with the American Cancer Society (ACS) representatives, for whom we (Tammy and I) raised over $500. The Huntsman team as a whole accounted for about 10% of the funds raised for ACS during the Marathon, thanks to all of you who contributed. Pretty good for a team of only about 15 people.

After visiting with friends, we lined up for the race, and started at 7:00 am. Along the 13.1 mile route, we enjoyed thousands of people cheering on the runners, including several bands located every few miles. The first 9 miles of the race seemed relatively easy, and we set a great pace (for us non-runners). The last 4 miles were a bit of a struggle for me. Tammy on the other hand was just getting started. So, she helped motivate myself and another co-worker to continue running through the finish. Our finishing time was 2 hours and 14 minutes.In the end, we exceeded my expectations. I had projected a 11-12 minute/mile overall pace (10.5-minute running pace with another minute or two for walking, drinking, or bathroom breaks). I had only run this far twice before, both times on a treadmill, not hard concrete. My personal best for this distance was about 11.5 min/mile pace. However, we finished with an overall pace of 10.25 min/mile, including our brief stops for water. We essentially ran the entire way, which I knew Tammy could do, but was a stretch for me.

After the race, volunteers handed out running shirts and medals to the finishers. They also served hot breakfasts, with food dontated by HEB. We sat and enjoyed the meal, then got up to meet friends/coworkers that also ran. I'm not sure how, but while I was eating, someone switched my legs with an 80-year old man! The stiffness set in, and we moaned and groaned as we stood up from our now sorely missed chairs.

Although our legs are still recovering two days later, we can honestly say that we thoroughly enjoyed the event, and will likely run another half marathon in the future.

Houston 1/2 Marathon

Hello, everyone!

Tom and I had fun in the Houston 1/2 Marathon race this past Sunday. We beat our goal time and came in with 2 hrs 14 mins 24 secs (around a 10 min 16 sec mile pace). Whoo hoo! The weather was great and crowd cheered us along most of the way.

The actual results are fluctuating still but if you care to check you can go to this site and use our last name to find our statistics: http://www.chevronhoustonmarathon.com/Home_4.htm

Thank you to everyone who donated to the American Cancer Society! We met our fundraising goal of $500.

-Tammy

Christmas Day Photos

Tom and I spent Christmas day with my family in Victoria. Carter was so cute opening his presents. Of course he had tons to open and would rather play with paper or the gift rather than move onto the next gift.

{Kevin, Brandi, Tavy, James & Scott}


{Melanie, John & Carter}

Christmas Eve Photos

Tom and I had a wonderful Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we visited with Tom's family in Victoria. It was the first time we met our 3 month old neice Emily. Judi, Vinny and Madison drove down from Iowa for the week as well.

{All 4 Neices!}

Back to the Normal Day to Day! (and loving it)

For those of you that do not know... I was traveling extensively from August until the week of Thanksgiving. Since Thanksgiving I have been home and I have been enjoying it. With the holidays and all the travel I have not been posting here. I plan on skipping a majority of the 2008 photos and news and just jumping right into 2009. I do have a few post in draft from 2008 that I will go ahead and post since I have already done them. Also there are some adorable pictures of neices and nephews from Christmas that just have to be posted. LOL!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year! May 2009 be MUCHO better than 2008.


Hugs,
Tammy