one week from today, I will be running and running and running

The Austin Marathon is now less than one week away.  The weather outlook says that is going to be 56, 6 mph winds, and a few showers. I am a bit nervous about the race, particularly that I am not that familiar with the route and the courses hilly nature.  It was nice when I prepared for the Twin Cities marathon that I pretty much ran the entire route before the race and had a pretty good idea of what to expect.  Lindsey found this posting about the race course by Robin Hill at the Austin Post.  Robin starts out by saying 

Despite the hills, runners get faster times in Austin than on other, flatter Texas courses. But running well here is all about planning and some self-control - if you’re smart and patient, you won’t give up much time, and you’ll get enough long, faster stretches to recover and catch a little time back. Fail to manage the hills, and you’ll pay the price later.

I have been pretty good about hills but nervous about the general uphill nature of the course until about mile 18.  It looks like after that point it is primarily downhill until a slight uphill finish. My goal is to run atleast as well as I did in the Twin Cities marathon (8:30 pace), but I would like to keep it at an 8:00 pace overall.  We will see how it goes!

Lindsey and I went to Marshalls in Roseville yesterday to see if they had any running/fitness gear.  Here is what I found:

There were a bunch of Under Armour Heat Gear tights so I grabbed a pair (20$).  I also found an Asics StormShelter jacket (39$).  I mentioned this in previous posts, but I have been looking for a good water proof jacket, so I was very happy to find this jacket at a cheap price (normally around 130$).  Lindsey and I ran our final 8 miler last night around Phalen.  The run was good we kept it at a nice and steady pace.  The new gear worked and felt great when I ran.  The tights, I guess intended for warm weather, kept me feeling comfortable as long as I kept out of the wind.  The jacket was also a great fit.

Well, I still have a few more of my favorite albums to share from 2009.  The next album, is from honky tonker James 'Slim' Hand and called "Shadow on the ground"

Hand is a genuine honky tonker, in the vein of Hank Williams.  Shadow on the ground is chock full of everything you want in a country album, songs about drinking and heartbreak.  And then there is this song, about his pet parakeet.



I actually listen to this album frequently when I run in the Metrodome. You should check it out.