RUN ONE Race Report

I was SUPER excited when I heard there was a one mile race coming to Houston!

I mean, I wanted to work on speed, perfect.  It is hot as blazes out side and I can't run far without walking, so one mile = perfect.  It had great swag (tech SINGLET, medal, beer) = PERFECT!  I was totally in from the beginning and I even convinced Preston and Grasshopper to run it with me.

I didn't count on it being the Sunday after we got home Thursday from vacation so I hadn't run in 2 weeks, but you can't win them all.

We left our house at 5:45 to swing by Grasshopper's at 6:15.  Parking was easy and we were resting on a park bench by 6:35 for a 7:15 start.  There was a (lack of) toilet paper issue in the portacans, but otherwise the waiting was pleasant.

We lined up at the start and checked the weather.  72 degrees with 85% humidity.  Hot but tolerable.  And off we went.

Preston and I were running next to each other in the beginning and I told him that my goal for the race was to get to just under vomit-level and then hold it, and that is EXACTLY what I did.  He dropped me around a quarter mile in, but I kept sight of him for the whole race.

I loved the quarter mile markers, by the way.  Very helpful for pacing.

First quarter I think I went hard.  Second quarter I was trying to hold it.  Third quarter I started really struggling and at one point thought, ok, slow down a bit or you're going to have to walk or vomit, so I did.  Fourth quarter I knew I was home and I pushed as hard as I could, but I had basically no kick, which for me is good because I left it ALL out on the course. 

Once I was done I grabbed my medal and started walking it off.  I truly did feel like vomiting for at least 15 more minutes.  I headed back a little ways so that I could yell for Grasshopper when she came in.

Final time: 9:14.4.  I will admit - I was really really hoping for sub-9.  BUT I am pleased that I went hard and left it all out there.  You can't really be disappointed when you give it all you have.  This is a good benchmark for where I am as the weather starts turning and I start focusing on speed.  My splits were, shockingly, 4:35.6 and 4:38.7.  I really thought that the second half would have been much slower than my first, so again I'm super pleased with that.  It is fairly even pacing and it shows that I didn't slow as much as I thought I did when I started to struggle.  Also I was 37th overall (of the non-elite wave) out of 104, so that was cool!

I was pretty miffed at Preston's "natural talent" read: long legs.  He ran an 8:33 on absolutely zero training, the punk.

And Grasshopper was thrilled by a sub-13 time and no walking, so everyone came away pleased!

Nice banana, cup of breakfast mash from My Fit Foods, water, and we were off home by 8.  Another excellent benefit of such a short race!  This one's definitely going to go on my annual list!