9/17/05: Race Day: The Tornadoes Cross-Country Relay!!
It was an UNBELIEVEABLY hot day for racing today and if it wasen’t for the fact that about half of the 2-mile course was shaded, I don’t know that I would have made it without passing out. (Of course, couple in the fact the race starts at 5pm and that since it is a relay, you tend to stand around in the sun waiting for your leg to come up…) My team, the Blog This! Striders, ended up completing the course in 1:19:50 (1:19:49.52 according to Jon’s watch) which is about what we projected to finish-97 place overall out of about 108 teams. Full results are here. Not the fastest group, but we a really good time and cheered each other through a tough course. I was actually very pleased with my time of 17:52.7 (according to Jon’s watch-18:02:54) which is about what he figured I would finished. I ran a very fast first mile (the “EASYYY” part of the course) in 8:19 (give or take two seconds) which is only 6 seconds slower then my personal best for my one mile (Which also leads me to believe that I can run one mile quicker then 8:13!) I figure I went out too fast though…..
…as the second mile really killed me (and just about everyone else that I talked to). I finished it in 9:33, which is about a minute slower then I wanted to finish it. There was one major (although short in terms of feet-only about 20 feet high or so) grade hill that stopped most people to a walk. I charged up for about 5 seconds and walked the rest. Any get-up-and-go I had left in me was getting quickly sucked up by the heat. I felt like needles and pins were hitting my face (despite sunglasses and a hat!) as I ran the last mile back facing into the sun. ARGGG! Fustrating but I didn’t give up and I pushed through, talking out loud to myself and telling myself I wasen’t going to give up and let my team down or myself.
It was a pretty grueling 2 mile route, needless to say:
In the end, I am really proud of my team for their efforts and I look forward to running with them again (one of the two Spring HARRA relays, anyone?!) I confirmed with Holden that he is going to run the Half Marathon (I think we vowed to start together since our LSD paces are almost the same now, although I am quite sure he will pull in front me anyhow) and I plan on seeing Cassie (who I meet for the first time and she raced today too and did quite well!), Vic and probably Jen at the Houston 20K that us Striders are managing. I have finally decided that I am going to run the 10K relay portion with my good friend Stacie Pyle who is training for the Half Marathon with Houston Fit. I plan to volunteer for the Bear Creek 10k/20k which is the week before for us Striders which I think will be fun since I have never volunteered for a race before! Good and busy times for all!
The STATS:
2 miles (about)
According to my watch:
Mile1: 8:19
Mile2: 9:33
total time: 17:52.7
Heart-rate: 190 ave 201 max
Weather: HOT! what more needs to be said...
It was an UNBELIEVEABLY hot day for racing today and if it wasen’t for the fact that about half of the 2-mile course was shaded, I don’t know that I would have made it without passing out. (Of course, couple in the fact the race starts at 5pm and that since it is a relay, you tend to stand around in the sun waiting for your leg to come up…) My team, the Blog This! Striders, ended up completing the course in 1:19:50 (1:19:49.52 according to Jon’s watch) which is about what we projected to finish-97 place overall out of about 108 teams. Full results are here. Not the fastest group, but we a really good time and cheered each other through a tough course. I was actually very pleased with my time of 17:52.7 (according to Jon’s watch-18:02:54) which is about what he figured I would finished. I ran a very fast first mile (the “EASYYY” part of the course) in 8:19 (give or take two seconds) which is only 6 seconds slower then my personal best for my one mile (Which also leads me to believe that I can run one mile quicker then 8:13!) I figure I went out too fast though…..
…as the second mile really killed me (and just about everyone else that I talked to). I finished it in 9:33, which is about a minute slower then I wanted to finish it. There was one major (although short in terms of feet-only about 20 feet high or so) grade hill that stopped most people to a walk. I charged up for about 5 seconds and walked the rest. Any get-up-and-go I had left in me was getting quickly sucked up by the heat. I felt like needles and pins were hitting my face (despite sunglasses and a hat!) as I ran the last mile back facing into the sun. ARGGG! Fustrating but I didn’t give up and I pushed through, talking out loud to myself and telling myself I wasen’t going to give up and let my team down or myself.
It was a pretty grueling 2 mile route, needless to say:
In the end, I am really proud of my team for their efforts and I look forward to running with them again (one of the two Spring HARRA relays, anyone?!) I confirmed with Holden that he is going to run the Half Marathon (I think we vowed to start together since our LSD paces are almost the same now, although I am quite sure he will pull in front me anyhow) and I plan on seeing Cassie (who I meet for the first time and she raced today too and did quite well!), Vic and probably Jen at the Houston 20K that us Striders are managing. I have finally decided that I am going to run the 10K relay portion with my good friend Stacie Pyle who is training for the Half Marathon with Houston Fit. I plan to volunteer for the Bear Creek 10k/20k which is the week before for us Striders which I think will be fun since I have never volunteered for a race before! Good and busy times for all!
The STATS:
2 miles (about)
According to my watch:
Mile1: 8:19
Mile2: 9:33
total time: 17:52.7
Heart-rate: 190 ave 201 max
Weather: HOT! what more needs to be said...
posted by Jessica, a Austin Runner AND triathlete at
11:04 AM
5 Comments:
It was SO hot Saturday -- I had a soccer game and almost puked. Anyway, Cassie and I are doing the 20K relay as well -- I can't wait to meet all you people in person!
By
Sarah, at Mon Sep 19, 11:53:00 AM
I'm up for the Spring HARRA relays, yea!
By
Woodlands Runner, at Mon Sep 19, 01:00:00 PM
yeh yeh I wanna to HARRA spring relays!!
Really glad I got to meet you Jess!! You were FAST girl!!!
By
Tiggs, at Mon Sep 19, 01:40:00 PM
Sure was great to see you again. You ran a great race on a tough course. Tell Wes it was great to meet him, too.
By
Unknown, at Mon Sep 19, 03:57:00 PM
One great way to get ready for that 20K Relay is to come out the Sunday morning before at Terry Hershey Park for the Bear Creek 10K/20K. (Steve will explain that AM why the Bear Creek name despite the reason we don't run there.)
If you do that 10K course (shhh .. it has some hills on the back half), you'll be more than ready for the next Sunday when it's flat.
I think I did it in 1:03 last year!
By
WalkSports.com, at Mon Sep 19, 04:52:00 PM
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