Tag Archives: Livestrong Austin Half Marathon

Austin fans are the BEST!

24 Feb Some of my favorite signs from the half marathon.

Running the Livestrong Austin Half Marathon last Sunday was unlike anything I expected.

First of all, the hills. Hills, hills, hills. As I said in my sister’s and my short recap of the race, those hills were HARD, but we conquered the crap out of them.

Then, the sheer amount of people racing stunned me. I’ve only ever participated in small road races of a couple hundred people or so; and the half-marathon that I ran last year was probably under 4,000 people, which was the biggest race I had ever run. The Livestrong Austin Marathon & Half Marathon had over 10,000 people running the half marathon, plus several thousand others running the full marathon at the same time. It took a full 15 minutes after the starting gun was fired before I finally crossed the starting line to begin the race.

Some of my favorite signs from the Austin half marathon.

Some of my favorite signs from the Austin half marathon.

My favorite part about the race that I wasn’t expecting, though, was how awesome the FANS were! There was barely a point during the 13.1-mile journey where there weren’t fans on the side of the road cheering all us crazy people on. And I was certainly entertained by all of the witty signs they had, even laughing out loud at a couple of them as I huffed and puffed my way by.

I think I was only ½ mile into the race, running uphill, when I saw the “in our minds, you’re all Kenyans” sign—definitely made me chuckle (and then choke as I tried to catch my breath at the top of the hill).

Several miles later, I saw the sign about Ryan Gosling supposedly 50 feet ahead. Trust me, I kept my eyes peeled, but sadly, no hunk of muscled love was in sight. All I saw was an old guy with a long, scraggly beard; pretty much the opposite of Ryan Gosling, those liars…

Later, with only a couple miles to go, I went through the Livestrong cheering area (which you couldn’t miss, with the amount of bright yellow everywhere)—these had to be the most excited people I have ever seen, out at 8 am in 45-degree weather, just ecstatically cheering and high-fiving runners non-stop. It was amazing and put a lot of pep back in my running.

As I came out of the Livestrong area, I looked to my left and saw the woman holding the “You’re running for me” sign. My breath caught, not because I was running too hard, but because for a moment it hit me that there are so many people out there who have these unfortunate and unfair illnesses, and I’m lucky to be one of the few running around the streets of Austin for 13 miles on a random, sunny Sunday morning. I hope that every breath, grimace, bead of sweat and ounce of effort I spent on those roads, goes towards something good for all those who are really suffering in a completely different way.

I was soon smiling again as I ran along towards the end of the race. “Worst parade ever” of thousands of runners struggling up yet another hill? I bet it wasn’t the most entertaining, but I’ll also bet it was the most inspiring parade anyone’s ever seen!

Special thanks to Pam LeBlanc at the Austin American-Statesman & Fit City for letting me share their photos!

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Who’s Bart Yasso?

23 Feb My Life on the Run

I am learning more and more that I’m not as much of a planner as I once thought I was. In the weeks leading up to our Austin Half Marathon runcation, Amanda and Brandi had restaurants and attractions lined up while I couldn’t even remember where we booked our hotel room. But sometimes you realize that plans are being executed without you even knowing it. You look back on a series of events and see an invisible dotted line that connects them all together and lands you right where you were supposed to be, without ever knowing there was any plan at all.

For me, that invisible dotted line led me to hearing Bart Yasso speak at the Austin Marathon Expo.

A few months ago when I was shopping the going out of business sale at Borders, Bart Yasso’s book My Life on the Run caught my eye and I thought it would be a good resource down the line for marathon motivation. To be honest, I didnt really know who Bart Yasso was, like, at all. Sure the name was familiar and I knew he had done something important in the running community, but I’ve just never been very in touch with all the stories of the great runners and shakers of distance running.

The book has collected dust on my bookshelf since August. As I was bolting around my apartment doing my last-minute packing for my trip to Austin, I grabbed the book on a whim thinking it might be good airport material. On my four hour flight to Austin, I set a new PR that had nothing and everything to do with running: I started and finished a reading the book–all before I was even instructed to fasten my seatbelt and prepare for landing!

Brandi's photo of me in the cab... yes, that's probably what I really looked like with my nose in the book the entire flight!

The book was phenomenal. It was laid out chronologically in easy-to-read chapters that highlighted different races, events and milestones in Yasso’s life (including a very tempting and entertaining race at a nudist colony). There are plenty of great reviews online for the book so I won’t go into that but I will say that I would highly recommend the book for anyone who enjoys (or wants to enjoy) running for reasons beyond grueling training regimens and setting PRs. This book focuses on what you really gain from running when you stop thinking about it as a means to an end: the confidence, friendships, stories and life-altering moments.

When I got to the end of the book, I saw that Yasso had listed Austin as the Coolest Host City… this is the point where the dots started to connect themselves. I realized that this runner I had just read about for three straight hours was going to be at the race I was on my way to. How great would it be to actually shake hands with this inspiring man?!

He spoke several times at the confence but the only time we had a chance to hear him was during his last time slot on Saturday afternoon. We got to the expo, picked up our packets and walked around for a little while. I was constantly checking my watch for fear of missing him speak, and with ten minutes to go I convinced Brandi and Amanda to grab seats early so I was sure we wouldn’t miss him. Well, we certainly didn’t miss him… in fact, by showing up early we had plenty of time to say hello and chat with Bart himself!

P.S. He loved the shirts!

He was so friendly and easy to talk to! He shared a few anecdotes from his book and had great advice for us and everyone else in the crowd. Bart was truly inspiring to hear speak, especially when you read in his book all the things he has gone through in his life. I ran into him the next day after the race and made a point to thank him for the pre-race advice about the hilly first half of the race (who knew that Austin was so hilly?! Not me!). He immediately remembered me and my sisters’ story and congratulated me on my race.

I asked him to sign my book at the expo, and I love the quote he included: “Never limit where running can take you.”

What perfect words to live by for an adventurer like me!

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Livestrong Austin Half Marathon Recap

20 Feb 20120220-121537.jpg

We love Austin!

No time for a full post today because we plan on walking/waddling around the city (yes, we are all that sore…) to do some shopping and take in the sights. Here are some quick recaps from each of us:

Lara | finish time: 1:42.19 (7:49 pace)

Such a fun race! Thanks to some great pre-race advice, I started out with the 8:22 pace group for the first couple miles during the uphill climb to mile 5 and gradually picked up my pace until I passed the 8:00 pace group (negative split goal, check!). The course was much hillier than I expected but the crowd support was fantastic and pushed me through the hardest parts of it. Everything was really organized and I can’t wait to see the finish line pictures (still waiting to see how they are going to organize those for runners to find them?!). But according to our friends who came from Dallas to watch us run, “If there’s one thing this city knows how to do, it’s how to put on an event.” I couldn’t agree more!

Brandi | finish time: 1:50:02 (8:24 pace)

Wow! This is one of the tougher races I’ve run. While it was a tough course, I ran a PR, so I was definitely pushing it. My favorite part of the race was around mile 9, which was decked out in Livestrong yellow. I was cheering, high-fiving, and pushing it as the lively crowd cheered and jammed Black Eyed Peas. The other memorable part of the race was the huge hill at mile 12 – imagine you’re gleefully running down a hill for about half a mile, then you see this little beauty emerge from around the corner:
20120220-121507.jpg

Yeah… you could hear a collective groan ripple through the runners – and a few expletives. :) After the race, we enjoyed VIP treatment at the Intercontinental – post-race food, drinks, massages (totally amazing), and we even got to see the race winners. It was awesome!

Amanda | finish time: 2:21:58 (10:50 pace)

As we walked up the hill towards the Austin capital building at 6:30 a.m. yesterday morning, my stomach twisted and I began to wonder if I could really do this half-marathon. My sisters and I were completely surprised by all the hills that we would have to conquer, and considering there are barely any hills where I trained in Wisconsin, I couldn’t even remember the last time I had to attack one hill-let alone 10! But with words of wisdom from a running legend at the expo, Bart Yasso, I decided that I would simply do my best, not think about all the obstacles or the fear that my hip pain might flare up from the intensity of the race, and just have fun and finish the best I could. And that is what I did! Having that positive attitude really helped; I did not PR, as I expected from taking time off training weeks ago for my hip injuried, but I felt strong and ran as fast as I thought I could – even with all those hills, which to me, is a win!

Here are some pictures – more posts to come!

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3 Sisters Take the Austin Half…in Style!

17 Feb Do 3 sisters cry wee, wee, wee all 13.1 miles?

First, a little back story. For whatever reason, the three of us have this weird obsession with the little piggy Geico commercial (it’s even the ring tone when both Amanda and Brandi call my phone):

When we decided to take a runcation to Austin to run the half marathon, we wanted to do it in style. With a few clicks of the mouse, I ordered three shirts from CafePress and waited patiently for them to arrive.

Imagine my delight when I found the package on the front steps after work yesterday… I tore it open like it was Christmas morning and found three perfectly printed pink shirts!

I haven’t started packing for my trip to Austin yet but at least I know one thing that will be going in my suitcase!

Do 3 sisters cry wee, wee, wee all 13.1 miles?

See you tomorrow, Austin!

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3 Sisters Take the Austin Half Marathon

12 Feb index

Move over Khloe, Kourtney and Kim… there’s a new group of sisters taking over towns!

Our destination: Austin, TX to run the Livestrong Austin Half Marathon.

The real beginning of this blog? All of us trying to get out of buying each other Christmas gifts! The last thing we wanted was to waste money on stuff we didn’t want. The solution: we decided to book a Winter trip to run somewhere warm.

Someone in my running club recommended this race, calling the course challenging, but fast. We’d heard Austin was a fun town with awesome live music, so, why not? This will be one of the biggest races we’ve been in, and we’re looking forward to watching the marathoners finish.

Race Weekend Schedule:

Arrive Saturday: We’ll check into our hotel, then swing by to pick up our packets and check out the expo (we’ll be wearing some fun shirts, stay tuned!). We’re hoping to catch the 4 p.m. speaker, marathoner Dick Beardsley. Then, we’ll eat a carb-o-licious dinner at Carmelo’s Restaurant and call it an early night!
Weather forecast: Partly sunny, high of 65, low of 47

Race Sunday: We’ll head down to the start line around 6:15 a.m. – the race starts at 7. Did you know there are over 30 bands performing during the race? Awesome! We’ll also be getting support from our family and friends with the very cool iPhone/Android app - and a few of our Texas family members will be in town for some fun on Sunday afternoon.
Race day weather forecast: Partly sunny, high of 70, low of 53

Fun Monday: We’re planning to play it by ear, so feel free to shout out your ideas on what we should do!
Weather forecast: Rainy, high of 71, low of 51

Leave Tuesday: We’ll probably grab breakfast, then go for a run or hike. Then, it’ll be time to pack up and head home!
Weather forecast: Sunny, high of 70, low of 51

Have you run this race? Any tips? Know the Austin area? What should we do to celebrate?

Race goals: Finish and then have some fun, sisterly time together!

  • Brandi: Finish under 2 hours, stretch goal to run under 1:53:05/PR! It would be awesome to run under 1:50:59 and get seeded for a Chicago Marathon start corral.
  • Amanda: My wish is to finish faster than my first & only 13.1 – under 2:11:50.
  • Lara: Feel strong during the race and run negative splits so that I feel confident for the USA Marathon – oh, and finish under 1:45.

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