Congress Avenue Mile Cancelled

On my 50th birthday, we found out that the Congress Avenue Mile was cancelled due to Run Tex, the company that puts on the race, closing their doors and going out of business after 25 years. This was a shocker as Run Tex has been in business a long time and was a big part of the athletic community in Austin, TX. They put on races, put out water for locals running on Saturday, and even had a foundation to help the area.

I was planning on running a few of my favorite races in 2013 starting with the Congress Avenue Mile. However, after training heavily since the Super Bowl, we will replace it with an upcoming race later this year. We have been racing heavily the last ten years and this is the first time that this has happened. I am always careful about when I kick in the high speed workouts to my program. If I knew that there was a chance that this could happen, I would have waited on my three speed workouts a week until later in the year, but that is how it goes…

Turning 50

I am turning the BIG 50 on Wednesday. I received my first AARP card in the mail this past weekend – so it is now official. I remember when I was a kid and I asked how old some of my parents’ friends were and they told me “50.” I thought, Gosh that is old! However, now that I am on the doorstep of 50, my perspective has changed and it does not feel that “old” after all.

My Dad died of colon cancer at 56. He was an energetic guy who I thought was in decent shape as he could still perform his signature drive to the basket in defensive traffic, get fouled, and collect his three point play at 50, but life took him very quickly after that. How will things change for me at 50? I am not sure, but I can promise you to live my life to the fullest concentrating on the quality of my existence. It has been 20 years since my Dad’s passing and I still thank him for his influence on my life. Turning 50 this week does make me think of him a bit more…

We here at www.OneMileRunner.com have decided to choose a few of my favorite races to compete in this year. It will all begin next month in Austin, TX. To prepare for the event, I topped off another 30 mile week of running with 5 half-mile quick repeats on the road. Next Saturday, feel free to join us in Sarasota for a one-mile time trial, point-to-point, for a “dress rehearsal” to see what we need to sharpen upin our last month of training.