Rodeo Run 10K Race Report

This race report is eerily similar to the Jingle Bell Run.  Met Liz down in the lobby and off we go to the rail.  Riding the light rail is always an interesting experience.  We arrive a bit later than anticipated and begin looking for Active Houston and The Icehouse runners.  Of course we find neither.  Oh well.

We line up directly under the 7 minute pace banner, only to hear the people around us discussing to “hopefully keep a 9 minute pace”.  It’s too late/crowded to move up much.  This start isn’t going to be pretty.  It does not help that the late arrivers are walking up the middle of the corral back to where they think they should be.  The first mile is like a game of Frogger, or maybe Pitfall, with constant dodging of walkers.  Mile 1 7:27 pace and lot of energy wasted weaving in and out of traffic.  One day I’ll learn to not have expectations of actually racing these big in town races.  At about the first mile mark I drop the thoughts of sub 46 minutes, and aim for a 7:35ish pace.  It’s finally starting to clear out when I hit the 5K timing mat 22:58.  Seems like sub 46 is still a possibility.  Shortly thereafter I start falling apart mentally.  My motivation for enduring the pain necessary is low.  A couple of times I caught myself “coasting”, but noticed when I did my pace was still a respectable 7:40ish pace.  I finished in 46:35 (7:29 pace),  388^th overall (out of 6310), and 54^th (out of 447) in my age/gender group.  Next up:  Sub 1:40 attempt 1 at the Woodlands Half-Marathon.

Notes:

• Bag drop was very well organized
• Light Rail is now my preferred way of getting to these downtown races.
• They needed to block off the start and force people to enter the corral from the sides
• I need to move up closer to the start line.
• Post race vendor tents were a mess.  Between the 5K and 10K starting at opposite ends and the sheer number of people it was difficult to get to the water/food tents.
• Watching a bit of the parade is always fun.
• First race I haven't bumped into someone I know.  Even finding Liz afterwards was tough.
• After Hogs Hunt I need to focus on getting my weight down.

January in Review

It’s been a bit since I’ve had anything noteworthy to write about.  Although my MacBook’s hard drive going belly up certainly didn’t help any.  Still need to figure how I’m going to get the last couple years worth of photos off of the old hard drive.   I’ll just give a one month update on how the year is going so far.

Running

This month has been all about running.  I only missed one day of running this month.  Amazingly, I ran no races this month.  Volunteering at the Houston Marathon with Team RWB was a great experience despite temperatures in the low 40's and rain. I did manage to log 218 miles.  Longest run was 16 miles, shortest run was 3 miles, and 8 runs over 10 miles.  Good enough for third place in the HTRex 2013 Challenge.  I’ll make up for the lack of racing next month as I prep for my first sub 1:40 half-marathon attempt.  Hope to run the Ghirardelli Chocolate Run 15K and the ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run 10K at a low 7:30ish pace.  I am really looking forward to running the Chocolate Run with my little sister.  With all the racing and tapering for the Woodlands Half my mileage will be quite a bit lower this month.  I’m shooting for 150 or so miles.  I signed up for the TransRockies race (gulp).  Right now I’m in the three day solo run, with an option to do the second three days.  Hopefully, I can find a partner and switch over to the six day team run.  May do the MS150 again this year, but it is the weekend after the 50K which has me a bit nervous.

Vacations

Nothing new to report.  I may have the opportunity to go to Japan around Thanksgiving.  I need to book my plans for my other vacations and be done with it.

Work

Nothing to report here.  I still show up, they still pay me.

Personal Development

Started four separate books but didn’t finish any of them.  Flatland is a really good book, but it’s not light reading despite being super thin.  I have not signed up for salsa lessons yet.  More than likely it will be on the back burner until after the 50K.  We had a surprisingly great improv show at ComedySportz.  My expectations were low, but my team pulled it out and won the match.  Next show will probably be a farewell show (at the White Swan?)  for Joe as he’s moving to LA at the first of March. 

Social

This has probably been the most dramatic change.  With the exception of the Foam Party, which was a blast, I really didn’t go out much.  It's odd to be rooting for not having any dates.  Although to be fair I have been sort of (casually?) dating this woman since the end of October, but that's over now.  I held to my plan and have started doing more things with a core group of new/old friends.  It really has been nice.

Next up Camping/Volunteering at the Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile Trail Run this weekend.

Big Dipper 5K Race Report

It has been a long time since I’ve raced a 5K.  The last 5K I did was the ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run in February of 2011.  I’ll have to do some “research” to find my 5K PR, I think it was back in 2002 or so.  For racing I prefer the intermediate distances, 10 to 15 miles.  While I like longer distances to see how I hold up physically. My typical rule is if it takes me longer to drive there, back, and shower than it does to run the race, I’ll just run from my front door. 

This race was odd in several ways for me.  First, it started at 6pm.  I’ve never had a race that did not start in the morning.  It was weird to wake up on a Saturday and not go for run first thing in the morning.  It really threw me off having to eat several real meals before the race.  Normally, I wake up, start re-hydrating, and eat a banana and/or a piece of peanut butter toast for breakfast.  Second, I have not been training much.  With a series of injuries and issues, I have not put together the kinds of quality runs or mileage that I would like to have at this point in the racing season.  I knew this wasn’t going to be much of a race for me but more of a speed workout.  My goal was to do the best I could, push hard, stay mentally tough, figure out where I am physically/mentally, and then start my race season training.

I arrived at Tom Bass Park about 5:15, and met some friends of my friend Rebecca (who convinced me to sign up for this race then never signed up herself).  After saying hi to everyone and exchanging pleasantries it was time to warm up.  I went to find the start line and run a bit of the start just to see how it would begin.  For me a good time in the 5K is all about the start and mental toughness.  The race is so short there is not time to weave in and out of people at the beginning, and getting stuck behind walkers is the death nail to a good time.  After seeing the start I realized I needed to be up very close to the front.  To say the path was narrow is a bit of an understatement.  Two abreast at the maximum, and even then you might elbow rub.  I knew there would be no passing in the first quarter to half mile unless you were in the first 20ish people.  The course was an out and back, so if you got stuck too far back you could end up not being able to pass if the leaders were coming back at you.   

My decision to start up front was validated pretty quickly.  This was a fun run, and the competition at the front wasn’t very strong.  The start went out fast, but the main leaders were running a 6:40-6:50 pace.  I passed a handful of people who clearly started out too fast and too far up, then fell into my groove with another runner.  It was clear “tall guy in white” and me were going to be running about the same pace.  Mile 1 was 7:10 pace.  I felt good, and felt like I could keep this up for the entire race.  Those of us near the front of the race had settled in.  

Mile 2 had the turn around.  Which really was 3 sharp turns (a 90 degree turn, a hair pin turn, then the 90 degree turn again), none of which you could run around at anything close to race speed.  Especially since the path was so narrow and people were coming at you.  Mile 2 was 7:30 pace, but I used the tight turn around as my excuse for letting the pace fall off.   

Mile 3 we were well on our way back.  That’s when the toughness of a 5K kicked in.  My eating and drinking all day, led to me having stomach cramps at this point.  I did not feel good anymore.  I knew I could catch tall guy in the white shirt if I could mentally get into it, he was maybe 15 to 20 seconds ahead.  I couldn’t, I slowed considerably.  The front of the pack had become stretched thin so there were no rabbits to catch.  Unfortunately I became the rabbit for two people who passed me.  Mile 3, 7:50 pace.

I finished in 23:27 (7:34 pace).   For perspective that’s 10-15 seconds faster than my half-marathon pace in March.   

Overall not a great race time, but given the heat and stomach issues not terribly unexpected.  I wish I could have had closer to even splits, but such is life.  I give myself a C+/B- on this race.  I finished in 15th place out of about 300 people so I can’t complain too much about my race.  I learned a few things and the failure at the end is motivating me to get serious about my training again.  The race itself was a non-competitive fun run, and felt as such.  The narrow race path was a bit tricky, but staying up front made it a non-issue for me.  Overall, the event itself was pretty good.  Next year, top 5-10. ;-)