Tyler YMCA Ugly Sweater 5K

Behind every son and husband is a smart and gorgeous wife. Family picture waiting on the awards to start. 

Start of the Tyler YMCA Ugly Sweater 5K 

This morning Calley, Evan, and I did the Tyler YMCA Ugly Sweater 5K, mainly to support our athlete Derreck. We had a great time. This week I'm finishing up a three week base block with a swim focus. Last weekend, Derreck's older brother Garrett was in town to train for Super Saturday. This week I was a little more tired than I probably should have been as I had to make some adjustments in my training schedule prior to this race. Once again, I experimented with a new pre-race breakfast and had no stomach issues. I'm mainly working on phasing in a new fueling/hydration strategy for training and 70.3/half iron racing that seems to be going very well so far.  I just need my legs to turn over faster but that can wait until spring. I'm just glad to have no stomach issues especially eating closer to the start of these running races than I normally do.  

The main goal here was assist Derreck and hope he would get the win. Unfortunately, he had some asthma issues and his inhaler broke before the race so he was unable to use it.  He was having difficulty breathing in the colder weather. We ran almost half the race together before needing to close the gap on the guy who was leading. Derreck toughed it out and finished 3rd overall. He also needs to save his fast legs for spring too, so no hurry here.

 At the half way point, I chased down Jared Jones who leading the race at the time. We let him go out but kept him close but his lead was building after the first mile.  I caught up to him and tried to slow him down similar to a cycling race so Derreck could catch back up but it wasn't working out. I had to put a surge in to drop Jared. The second mile ended up being my fastest and I finished in 17:28.  The Tyler YMCA did a great job putting on this race and the Tyler Police and the volunteers  did a phenomenal job! Glory to God for the great race! 

Derreck Mayeaux and I after the awards. 

Evan and I with the female overall winner, Abbie Treat. 

Tyler Turkey Trot 5K

It was Evan's first 5K! Calley pushed him the whole way and both were troopers!  

I practiced a new race day breakfast for me with calculated carbs and fluids to see how my body would handle it. I was "feeling" fast during the warm up.  The race however, I got off to about a 10 second late start. I was in the back getting a good luck kiss from Calley and Evan. Walking back up the front I heard the horn go off. I ran about sub 4:45 pace the first half mile. The time I was about to catch up to the front group they were pulling away again.  Then I was doing all I could to sustain finishing officially in 17:40 but really ran a 17:30 for 5th overall and 1st age group.