There's the Shape You THINK You're In

and then there's the shape YOU ARE IN. This is pointed out to you by others you're running, cycling or swimming with. For those that train in a group, this may be an everyday occurrence, but for those of us that are self-coached, this only happens in races or maybe some other gathering. The some other gathering was the Austin Marathon/Half Marathon Kickoff Event on Saturday. I woke up and drove down to Runtex and did a kickoff run with Francie Larrieu Smith and Austin's own Olympic Hopefuls: Cassie Henkeil, Lance Parker, Chris Kimbrough and UT Assistant Coach Steve Sisson. Granted, these were very fast people but they barely broke a sweat as I maxed my heart rate. At least it didn't happen until the second half of the run. I would've been fine if I didn't have the hills and which took my heart to the max at the 7:30/7:45 per mile pace. The heart rate wouldn't come down so I was forced to slow down the last ten minutes.

Even at 7:30 a.m., the heat and humidity were brutal. I sweat a puddle sitting there listening to the Runtex and Rogue reps talk about the upcoming Distance Challenge and the Austin Marathon. It was a good thing Accelerade was there with coolers full of the lemonade flavored drink. By the way, this was a new flavor in the powder form. Very nice. Not too sweet and it should be a favorite on the course. We were also treated to some free breakfast tacos from Taco Deli. I had never seen liquid potatoes but they were good. A few organizations had booths so it made for a small expo of sorts.

Next year may be the year that I enlist a coach or group to help me. Rogue sounds like a great program and one that would get me to the next level but it'll have to wait until next year. This year I'll be self-coached. And really self-coached is no longer self-coached in the sense of the word as it applied 30 years ago. I mean with so much information in books, on the Web and form others that help out, I'm really not self-coached as I am without a formal relationship with a coach or group. And I wonder if I'd run faster or better with a coach. I know I'd run faster if I ran with faster people. Anyway, it's something to ponder for the next year.

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