Location: Somewhere deep in suburbia (Sugarland)
Distance: 5K Time: 30:47 (PR!!)

Most of Sunday I didn’t feel great, and even considered skipping the race…..except that I had already paid my registration fee. Damn those online registrations. As June said later that morning, pre-paying the entry fee locks you in. So, at 5:45am, I headed out. The race was somewhere deep in Sugarland, 2 exits past Highway 6. I think this is the furthest down 59 I’ve ever been.

Parking was crazy, so people started getting creative with parking spaces. I think I ended up in a fire lane with 30 other cars.

Saw a bunch of Striders. FortBend Fit was out in big numbers - makes sense, since this was their turf. Lots of families too. Chatted briefly with Vic, June and Bill before the race. Everyone started setting their watches, and I realized I couldn’t remember the last time I raced without a watch. I just told myself to use this race as an easy run, and just get some miles in for the day.

Mile 1:

• I heard someone yell, “Ready, set, go!”…and we were off. I kept telling myself not to go out too fast, to remember how I lost steam by the end of Saturday’s TLT. But, the energy of the race kept me at a strong pace (strong for me, at least). The humidity was getting to me, and I was really looking forward to that first water stop. As I got to the first mile marker, the volunteer called out “9:53″….what? Did I run my first mile under 10 minutes? For me, that’s fast. I figured it wouldn’t last, and just kept going.

• The second mile took us along a semi-shaded street, so it was only “really humid” instead of “really disgustingly humid”. By this time, I could feel - and hear - myself breathing really hard. I didn’t realize it at first, until someone gave me a look of concern. I guess that’s the price I pay for chain smoking 10+ years - sounding like a dying frog during a race.
• I grabbed a cup from the water stop and poured cold water on my head…..ahhhh. 40 seconds later, it turned into warm water on my head. Ah, Houston in September.
• At the 2nd mile marker, the time was 10:21 (I think). That seemed to make more sense to me, though I told myself not to give up….I was already 2/3 done and 1 mile was nothing. Less than the usual 2-mile warmup with SMART, so I could try to see how fast I could go the last mile. Besides, it would all be over soon and I could return to my chilly, air-conditioned car.

• The final mile was difficult, but also felt short. I really think it was the layout of the course - I think the turns and bends of the course made it feel shorter than it was. I turned off the shaded street and back onto the main road….and could already see the firestation. Definitely motivating.
• In the middle of Mile 3, something really pissed me off. This little kid - and I mean little….his head came up to my bellybutton - started coughing and dry-heaving and crying, saying “I can’t do it anymore, I can’t do it…”, and this man with him started saying, “Don’t stop! Don’t start crying! Push through it!” Now, I had been running near them for most of the race, and from the beginning it was clear this man was coaching this kid. I couldn’t tell if this man was his father, but he would yell, “hup! hup! come on! keep up the pace!” and showed the kid how to drink at the water stops. Although his non-stop talking was irritating (”hup! hup! hup! hup!”), he did say some useful things at first like “keep a steady pace and leave some for the end”, etc. I didn’t hear the kid say anything until the middle of Mile 3, when he started retching and crying. Now, although all the “hup!hup!”s were irritating, I really got pissed when the kid started crying, asking to stop, and the man kept telling him to keep going….and not in a “you can do it” way, but a “don’t give up now, you weakling” way. I mean, this kid was maybe 6? 7? A little young to be pushing that harshly, in a really hot and humid race. ASKING TO STOP. I kept turning around to glare, but he didn’t notice. Later, someone said a woman started to yell at him and threatened to call the cops. Ok, getting the police involved is a bit extreme, but I definitely wanted to tell this guy off. What is it with adults forcing children to race when they obviously don’t want to??

• Ok, back to the race.

• I reached a corner and saw the entrance to the firehouse, and knew the finish line was right there. Knowing the end was near gave me a burst of energy - I started sprinting up the entrance and through the firehouse. There was carpet in the firehouse, and I thought the carpet was the finish mat…..but someone shouted “keep going!!” and I saw the actual chip finish mat about 50 feet ahead….under the huge FINISH banner. duh. I don’t think I lost any time, though. I made it through the finish with an overwhelming desire to vomit. A volunteer reached down to pull off my chip, and I figured it would be pretty bad if I threw up on this poor kid’s head. ew.

I hung around and chatted with fellow Striders, picked up some water and bananas……and my free Asics socks, courtesy of the Striders!! The results started getting posted….and Ann won 1st place in her age division! Awesome! Eventually, the final results were posted, and I checked my time. I had to check twice, because I couldn’t believe it….30:47? Wait, what? I checked again….9:53 avg pace. If my 2nd mile was 10:21, I must have really booked it during my last 3.1! I was also 10th in my age group…..ok, so there were only 24 women in my age group, but god bless these small races. woo hoo!

But, Vic made a HUGE PR…..more than 1.5 minute from his previous PR, and more than 5 from his first one. I couldn’t believe it….I was speechless for a minute. And Vic seemed so casual about it - I was like, hello HUGE achievement!!! Yay Vic!!!

So, I put some numbers together:

Current 5K PR: 30:47

Previous PR: 31:30 (@ 2006 Bellaire Trolley Trot)

Average 5K time: ~ 33-34 min

Last 5K: 37:58 (@ 2007 Rockets Run)

Damn those hills and intervals and TLTs…..but I guess sweating out a liter of sweat 4-5 days a week in miserable humidity is actually doing some good! Yay SMART!!

Time: 40:44.6
Pace: 13:08/M (TERRIBLE)

My last race for the summer: On June 10th, I ran the Houston Pride 5K. Ok, “ran” might be a pretty generous description, since it was hot and miserable. It was the first 5K I’ve ever walked in - pretty discouraging. The volunteers at the mile markers were hilarious, though - the woman at the 2nd mile marker kept screaming, “WHO’S YOUR NUMBER? WHO’S YOUR NUMBER?” like Who’s Yo Daddy? Even the cops were cracking up. Anyways, I felt so discouraged about the race that I took a week off from running, and decided that I’m officially done with races until October. I’m still running, just no more races.

[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.

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[photopress:bellaire.gif,thumb,alignleft] Location: City of Bellaire
Date: Saturday morning
Distance: 3.1 miles
Chip Time: 31:30
Mile 1: 10:03
Mile 2: 10:11
Mile 3: 10:17
Mile .1: 00:57
Avg/Max HR: 185/203

Yay!! It’s been a while since I last PR’d, and my only goal for Saturday’s race was to put last week’s horrible 5k time behind me. At 36:23, Yuri’s Night was my 2nd worst 5K time ever, and I felt frustrated and disappointed in myself about it all week….so I’m happy I ran a good race both mentally and physically. My finish time was a minute faster than my previous PR of 32:33 at the Rocket’s Run in January. It’s funny how minutes and seconds in a race carry so much more weight than minutes and seconds in any other part of the day.

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Location: Challenger 7 Memorial Park
Distance: 3.1 miles
Time: 36:23 (This might be my *worst* 5K time yet)
Avg/Max HR:  190/201 (!!)

Traveled down to Clear Lake/Webster for the Yuri’s Night 5K Fun Run, organized (and photographed!) by fellow running blogger Sarah. Jon was also there as a volunteer.  I hardly venture to that part of the Houston sprawl, so it was nice to check out Challenger 7 Memorial Park.  Located on NASA Road 1, the park was named in honor of the 7 astronauts that died in the Challenger Shuttle explosion.

The turnout was small, but casual and laidback.  My bib number was 4! woohoo  At 8am, Sarah gave a quick hellohowareyoureadysetgo and then we were off. 

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Location: Toyota Center and back
Distance: 3.1
Time: 32:33
Mile 1: 10:55 (had to guess the mile marker)
Mile 2: 10:25
Mile 3 + .1: 11:12 (didn’t see mile 3)
Average Pace: 10:28 min/mile

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Location: Run the Woodlands 5K
Time: 33:02
Avg Heart Rate: 175
Max Heart Rate: 222 (?? - can that be right?)

- I’m pretty disappointed with my time. It might be my worst 5K yet. But, as Vic so encouragingly said, there’s never a bad run. I did have a great time, though, and the Woodlands was…woody.

- Most (if not all) of the Houston Bloggers from Saturday were fellow Houston Striders, and all were really nice and down-to-earth peeps. Yay for Striders!

- As it turned out, I ended up spending the rest of the weekend in North Houston (Kingwood, Spring, Woodlands). It felt like a mini-vacation.