Buttsweat Towel© season has begun

You are a nerd. I can't help you with your decision, but I can tell you not to stress about your average pace on an easy run. It's hot. It's still windy. You're gonna be slower.

But you're still an awesome runner.

Frankenthon is not hilly - it is a 3 loop course and really pretty flat from what I have read. You can't really judge from the elevation map - most of that is only 100ft of change over x # of miles. You can stay at my house and I will pace you from mile 13. Chances of warm weather are good though. San Antonio is November 13th. Never know about the weather at that one, either.

Oh my gosh lol! This is hilarious!

Those are all imp't things to consider ... at the end of the day, I would pick the one that gives you the best chance at a good time, otherwise save yourself for Houston & just do shorter races as preparation. Nice 11 miler!

I say go for Tyler and do hill training in advance. Don't worry about your time...it's just training for Houston. The heat won't be that bad...I know the course is shaded a lot, and you'll be used to running in those temps by then. Plus, you'll already be there with me, and wish you had just run it.

You neglected to put on the "pros" for Tyler that your wife would be running it.

Run 'em all

Tracy - yeah anytime the temps are in the 70s it's my own personal death zone - I've mostly accepted it...

DH - thanks for the awesome offer! My grandparents used to live in the Cedar Park/Leander area -- seemed hilly but I haven't looked at the route in much detail.

April - I'm glad you didn't see my Oklahoma City weather spreadsheet.

JG - I think the NM and KS ones seem fastest, but Abilene will be pretty fast too, I just don't like how close it is to Houston -- a marathon takes me out for a couple weeks.

Danielle - doing it as a training run isn't a bad idea...then if by some miracle it's cold that day, I could race it. you're right that my focus will really be Houston anyway.

Tracy - that's because it's all about me.

Flat - don't tempt me

The best advice is usually that offered by your wife ... all other options in your spreadsheet should be noted with an asterisk! * Proceed with Caution!

Seriously, if Houston is your main focus, don't race in October, although a 26 mile training run would be good!

As far as your training pace the next 4 months, I wouldn't worry about it too much! Last July, Aug, Sept, I ran faster than an 8:00 pace a grand total of 6 times (short distances), then ran St. George at 7:38 pace ... pace only matters on race day & heat, humidity & hills play havoc on pace ... but not effort!