[photopress:astrosracelogo..jpg,thumb,alignleft]Location: Downtown
Distance: 3.1
Chip Time: 36:26 (bleh)
Avg Min/Mile: 11:48 (bleh)
Temp: 78F, 84% humidity (bleh)

Two words: hot and humid. Ugh. I finished in the same time (+3 seconds) as the Yuri’s Night run, another hot/humid race, though I think the conditions Saturday were more uncomfortable. I didn’t bring my handheld Amphipod bottle, which made things feel more difficult (even if just mentally). At both water stops, I grabbed two cups of water - one to drink and the other to pour down my neck which cooled me down for, oh, 15 seconds.

Prerace: Got to Minute Maid at 7am, and saw June, Edwin, Keith and Sarah. It had been a while since I’d seen them so it was nice to catch up a little. I grabbed my chip and met up with Alicia (walking), John (running) and a few of John’s friends. After a few helloandhowareyous from Milo, we were off.

Mile 1: It was hot. I already regretted not running with any fluids. After 4 blocks, we made the first turn onto Caroline Street and saw a group of runners coming towards us in the opposite direction. John wondered if they were part of another race, but I told him that those were the fast runners and that we’re just really slow. heh.

Mile 2: Still hot. At some point, we turned another corner and left the relative shade of the buildings. We caught up with two of John’s friends and exchanged some “hot enough for ya?” type comments. Near the end of Mile 2, I saw June running with her Amphipod bottle and cursed myself yet again for not bringing mine.

Mile 3: Did I mention it was hot? There was a brief moment of relief when the course dipped under the Union Pacific Railroad tracks along Texas Ave. We looped around and headed back on the home stretch towards the stadium. I imagined Minute Maid completely filled with ice cold water, which gave me some motivation to say alive.

Mile .1: We rounded the corner and headed into the stadium. Staff were shouting for everyone to be careful because we were going down a ramp in darkness, but that combination made it my favorite part of the course. I crossed the finish line and felt nauseous for a few minutes. bleh. It wasn’t my best race.

Postrace: Checked in with Sarah, June, Keith, Edwin and Sam after the race. I had met Sam briefly at one of the Run the Woodlands, and it was nice to see him again. Edwin said he finished in 21 minutes, and Sam finished in 17 minutes. Ok - those are some insane and impressive times! Me, I’m just happy I didn’t melt into the asphalt. hee

After contemplating jumping the gates to run the bases, we headed up to meet Alicia and the others. I did my usual round of the post-race goodies, and grabbed some fruit and other stuff. I know I looked funny balancing two bottles of water, an orange, yogurt and a kolache in my arms but hey - I’m all about the free goodies. hee. We headed over for a yummy brunch at Baby Barnaby’s.