I met up with my high school friend Chris for dinner at Iron Cactus. Chris and I caught up on a couple years of events and hopes. He has mastered the talent of understated sarcasm that makes his storytelling so great to listen to. We split the Tuna Ceviche for an appetizer and I had Lobster Tacos for dinner. Since they're known for their tequila selection, we also had a couple of margaritas each. The tequila of choice was Republic Repasado. It was so worth it. I highly recommend it to anyone in its vicinity. (They have other stuff on the menu other than seafood, if you're not into it.) They have a sister restaurant on the Riverwalk, so I will definitely be attempting to get down there as soon as I can.
Distance: 10K
Goal Time: 1:24 to 1:30
Personal Record: 1:21:42
Personal Record: 1:21:42
Actual Time: 1:16:46 (12:22 min/mi) NEW PR!
The Cap10K is promoted as the largest 10K in Texas. They weren't lying. I got up ridiculously early to make sure I got a parking spot near the finish. I'm glad I did. I got to the start line around 7am, after procuring coffee and food. he start line looked like this when I got there. I killed time by warming up, stretching, and reading Wicked Lovely on my B&N eReader on my iPhone. It's so convenient to have a GPS, phone, mp3 player, camera, internet, and book all wrapped up into a little sleek package.
It looked like this at 8am. The weather forecast said cloudy with 10% chance of precipitation. It began drizzling around 8:15 and didn't stop until I was driving home. The drizzling made it a little cooler and is an acceptable consolation prize for high humidity. The race started late, like they always do, but at least not by much. My start was about three minutes after gun time.
My Polar heart rate monitor wasn't picking up either my heart rate or my footpod (for pace), so I had no idea how fast I was going or how close I was to my max HR. I was going by just how I felt. I recorded my mile splits and was surprised every time. I wasn't going too hard. I walked through hills and water stations. I just kind of kept going. In the first half I thought that somewhere down the course I would have some issue that would slow me down, but it seemed like everything was aligning just right. I was working hard, but feeling great doing it.
I was super excited when closing in on the finish I knew that I was going to get a PR. At that point, I could tell I was beginning to overheat, so I just kind of cruised to the end. It was around mile 5.5 or so that I came up on this guy - the Music Man - who was providing running commentary. Literally. He had a record player and a microphone and was talking to the crowd around him. He was hilarious. I hung out for a little bit near him and he helped me keep smiling like an idiot all the way to the finish line.
The finish line was a mess. With getting a PR, I wish I had someone waiting for me that I could celebrate with. I have decided that this is a requirement for all prospective significant others - willingness either to run events with me or wait at the finish. But it worked out well for me today since I don't think I could have found someone in that cluster or human madness. I managed to procure a banana and a bottle of water. I passed at least one person that had three bottles of Vitamin Water, two bananas, and two or three bags of chips. People like that are the reason why I bring my own food to eat after most races. As a slowpoke, I usually don't get refreshments by the time I get to the finish. I waited in a ridiculous line for a free massage. I think I deserved it, don't you?
It was a great weekend all around. On the way home I got the same feeling I get after I finish my cooking classes. A vibrancy, a high, that I can only relate to feeling like I want to make out with someone, or go jump in puddles. Something, anything, just to get more living into a few more seconds.
And now I'm back and will all too soon return to the regularly scheduled grind.
My Polar heart rate monitor wasn't picking up either my heart rate or my footpod (for pace), so I had no idea how fast I was going or how close I was to my max HR. I was going by just how I felt. I recorded my mile splits and was surprised every time. I wasn't going too hard. I walked through hills and water stations. I just kind of kept going. In the first half I thought that somewhere down the course I would have some issue that would slow me down, but it seemed like everything was aligning just right. I was working hard, but feeling great doing it.
I was super excited when closing in on the finish I knew that I was going to get a PR. At that point, I could tell I was beginning to overheat, so I just kind of cruised to the end. It was around mile 5.5 or so that I came up on this guy - the Music Man - who was providing running commentary. Literally. He had a record player and a microphone and was talking to the crowd around him. He was hilarious. I hung out for a little bit near him and he helped me keep smiling like an idiot all the way to the finish line.
It was a great weekend all around. On the way home I got the same feeling I get after I finish my cooking classes. A vibrancy, a high, that I can only relate to feeling like I want to make out with someone, or go jump in puddles. Something, anything, just to get more living into a few more seconds.
And now I'm back and will all too soon return to the regularly scheduled grind.
3 comments:
One of these days I'm going to make it up to the strawberry festival!
It sounds like you had an awesome race, Ann! I wish I could have been there to celebrate with you at the end. And what's with races and bananas?? They had lots of bananas at the end of the 5k too. Bananas seem way too sweet for me to think of at the end of hard exercise. When I used to swim hard races, I always craved salty foods because you sweat so much in the water.
Way to go, Ann! Congrats on the PR! :) Yippee! Yay! To go along Amanda's comment. After running for two hours today...this evening, I downed the dill pickle juice we had in the fridge. Yummy!
I also agree, I like to be cheered on! It's so encouraging! Thanks for sharing about your race and your fun time at the Strawberry Festival!
The Strawberry Festival was cool, but I'd definitely want to go later in the day to see more of the stuff. If I can get more of those strawberries, it would definitely be worth it.
I think they have bananas because A) they're really cheap and B) they have potassium in them. Potassium is one of the minerals you lose when you sweat, though not as much as you lose sodium. They had bags of potato chips too, but I passed. I got my salt intake from the victory margarita I had later. ;)
One of these days I'm going to be a volunteer for one of the local races. I'd love to see how a race looks from the other side.
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