With all the pictures and really this just being a short 4 mile race, there isn't really much to break down here, so summation it shall be. :O)
I do love this race, its a fast and flat 4 mile course, but well, every year its the first weekend in April and every year its been hot (mid 70's) and sky high humidity. AND its an 8:30am start, which just means its hotter than at 7am when most races here start :O). Last year I didnt run it due to Bellaire being the same day, but since I know how 'that' went, I know that it was yet again, what could end up being a death march on a short course :O)
It was so damn humid when I walked outside I thought I was going to suffocate. It was also cloudy and it was 'drizzly'. Not raining, and not mist...but drizzle. By the start of the race, it was actually raining (although that didnt last long), then it just got steamy. Thankfully the sun didnt (as a mean prank) break through or we would really have been in deep ca-ca. But the streets were slicker than the BP oil spill which made for careful placement of footing.
I was wishy washy on what I wanted (or thought I could do) here. I haven't done any real speed work this Spring, other than here or there and that isn't what my body is use to, its use to some serious speed training with KW, so there was that. However....I also thought well...I did 10:05 pace easily last weekend in the half marathon in basically the same conditions...
So pretty much I thought maaaaaaaaaaaybe I could pull out a 9:00 average for the 4 miles.
Um. No.
My body wasn't having any of that.
I don't have my splits, but my first mile was 8:57 (faster than I wanted) Held on a bit in mile 2 and then just f**king cratered in mile 3 (which also is the only incline on the course and its a long, slow incline up Memorial Drive).
I actually walked quite a bit in miles 3 and 4, trying to settle a very nauseous stomach. Once I made the turn for the last mile home to the Finish though I tried, I really did, but there wasnt much there. The distance came in at .07 over and at least I got 8:38 for that part :O)
I finished 2.5 minutes slower than my time the first year of this race (2009) which was 36:58 and this year it was just over 39:30ish (barely faster per mile than at the half last weekend)...I really wanted to break 36: but again, no speed work and no short distance races for months and months just really doesn't lend itself to a good showing. :O( I just haven't practiced at all and its hard to figure shit out. :O)
I did manage to get 17th out off 88 women in my AG and was 614th overall out of over 1,550 runners..so that doesn't suck. Although this race is not typically known for having the fastest peeps show up for it (its getting better). It's more like a 'family' thing sort of race with a lot of run/walkers and walkers in general.
All I remember was sucking up it as hard as I could in the last 800m so that I didn't go over 40:00.
I had to kneel down after crossing the mat for at least 3 or so minutes because I honestly thought I was going to puke everywhere.
So now its on to Bellaire this coming Saturday...5K and one of my favorites. Although I need to really go into this with a better head and think about what I want to do to try and get a PR (goal is to finally break 27: but I just dont see it happening this Spring). Weather forecast doesn't lend itself to giving me much confidence either... but it is Houston and it is April.
Side note: other notable vendors there were Freebirds and Los Cucos (I forgot I ate a bit of chicken burrito from FB's but managed to pass on the chips and green/red sauces from LC!!) Seriously the food at this race is awesome!
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Sunday morning: Ran/walked 6 miles in the nastiest conditions of the year (so far). I ran 7 minutes then 1 minute walk intervals. Even though yesterdays race wasn't fast, my legs still felt like they had run a lot faster than they did. :O)
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