TXU Energy Turkey Trot 10K

Location/Route: Uptown Park/Tanglewood
Distance: 10K
Time: 1:04:07
Mile 1: 10:24*
Mile 2: 10:24*
Mile 3: 10:32*
Mile 4: 10:32*
Mile 5: 10:32*
Mile 6: 9:50
Last .2: 1:45
(* = average)
Avg Pace: 10:19
Avg Heart Rate: 178
Max Heart Rate: 209

Race Report:

• Got a late start and hurried over to Uptown Park at 7am. Post Oak was closed off at San Felipe, so I circled around before finding parking. I picked up my chip, stretched a little and found my place by the starting line just 10 minutes before the race started at 8am. There was a great turnout - a big crowd, including lots of families and kids. The energy was upbeat and happy. I didn’t see as many club-related tshirts this morning - just a few red HoustonFit shirts and one yellow SMART singlet.
• Since I felt rushed getting to the race on time, I spent the last few minutes getting into the right headspace for the run. Took deep breaths, and focused on how I wanted to run and what I wanted to get out of the race. I had decided to treat the race as an easy training run, since I hadn’t run since Saturday morning and I had been feeling blah all week. I just wanted to get the 6 miles under my belt.
• It was hard to hear the race officials over the sound system - at 7:55am, we heard “mumblemumblemumble…GO!” and people started crowding towards the startling line….but it was the start of the wheelchair 10K. The wheelchair athletes never fail to amaze me with how fast they go - and their arms? Hello - talk about ripped. Five minutes later, we heard “mumblemumblemumblemumble…GO!” and off we went.
• My legs felt a little stiff and heavy at first, but I found my rhythm after about 15 minutes. I missed the first mile marker, but I passed the 2nd mile marker at 20:49. That’s 10:24 min miles! I’ve been averaging 11:20+ min miles lately, so it was a really nice surprise! I missed the 3rd and 4th mile markers (were they even posted?), but I ran the next 3 miles in 31:38. I walked through two water stops, but fortunately didn’t feel the need to stretch my IT band. As I came up to the Mile 5 marker, I looked at my watch and realized I might be able to beat my RodeoRun 10K time of 1:07:47, so I started booking it. I ran Mile 6 in 9:50, and then sprinted the last .2 across the finish line. My watch read 1:04:07 - 3 minutes under my RodeoRun time. Yay! I finished feeling great.
• After the race, I wandered through the post-race party for the obligatory free goodies - muffins, bananas and kolaches. I stopped to watch Felix lead the Kid’s 5K, and then headed back to the car.

Additional race notes:

• Mile 1: Girl runner: “Chicago was the first time I stopped for a pit stop behind a building.” Guy runner: “Well, the thing I learned from watching the Boston and New York marathons is you gotta learn how to pee while running. It really saves you time.” Girl runner: “Ugh. I don’t think I could do that.” Guy runner: “You just have to practice. Believe me, it works.”
• Miles 4-5: Ran alongside Felix for a while. He was, as usual, carrying his huge American flag. It seemed like 90% of the runners passing on the other side knew him, since everyone was shouting “Hey Felix!”
• Mile 5: I saw two women that I see at every race. They stand on the side of the race route with their HUGE dogs - one woman has a Bernese Mountain Dog and other has what I think is a brindle Mastiff. Like the Beatles soundtrack (which was, thankfully, NOT at this morning’s race), they’re like landmarks of Houston races.

Happy Turkey Day. Gobble.