3/11/06: The Houston RRCA Convention and a new 10K PR at the Bayou City Classic!

More to come later, but an *almost* 3 minute PR happened today and I had my first-first place finish, although in the Fillie Division (140 lbs. +)...haha, I guess the beer and BBQ paid off last night.

unofficial chip time: 51:20.

I would like to thank mostly Steve Shepard, The Academy, and Shiner Bock beer...
Thanks to everyone who stuck around for the awards:) You guys rock hard.
______

Update: After pretty much lounging around the rest of the weekend, I finally feel up to being online again...the race sure did take a lot out of me and it doesn't help that I 'sampled' enough St. Arnold's for about 5 people, lol...but dammit, I deserved it! :)

I do want to mention though that I had a great time at the convention on Friday, including hanging out with Neil from FuelBelt (Thanks for the drink!) and getting to know a few attendees at the BBQ we had later that night at Jones Plaza. Good times with my fellow Striders (including HRB Vic!) and I think we did an awesome job hosting a national running convention!

Anyhow, back to the race, I went into this race well rested and well fed. I haven't ran since Wednesday, and although that was a hard run, I felt pretty good this paticular morning. Of course, it is hotter then anything so I am drinking water and Gatorade like a maniac to avoid dehyrdation.

After I get parked and realize I parked too far away and hurry to get to chip pickup, I decide I should try to compete in the Fillie competition since I knew it was a sure bet I have been putting weight on this week, especially with the RRCA BBQ the previous night, yummy. Sure enough, I made it by 2 pounds. Edwin was there to witness the specticale, I was sort of embarrassed.

Edwin decided he was going to run competively, which I was okay with since Coach Steevee had offered up pacing duties the previous day at the RRCA convention. I have never been paced before so I was a little bit nervous. Steve and I had decided to run at least a 8:40/mile pace, but after the first mile, he must have known I could do more so we layed it all on the table, or road rather.

Mile 2 was sooo hot! I had promised Steve I wasn't going to complain but I knew this race was going to be rough. I was already passing runners I am normally wayyyy behind so it gave me a little moral boost and I ran as strongly behind Steve as possible. He could tell by the 5k point though that the heat was getting to me, but I told him I wasn't going to give up. I knew I had too much 'in me' today to give up half-way.

After the leaders passed us, I got another boost of energy, but now we were going back towards downtown and right into the terrible winds...Steve tried to shield me as best he could, but you could tell everyone was struggling. The heat wasn't getting any better, but the sun was at bay so that helped a little.

At this point, around mile 4, although I normally never stop for water in a 10k as I bing my own, I was grabbing two cups at every stop. One to splash on myself and another to drink and splash on Steve. We managed the water stops very well, which I even impressed myself with--we never slowed down other then to toss our cups.

It soon became survival mode though, and I told Steve I was starting to feel bad. I knew it was going to be a mental battle from here on out. I told him to talk to me about anything other then the race. As he did, I suddenly started going 'out of my mind' so to speak. As in, I heard him talking, but all that I heard was my breathing, my feet hitting the ground, and I saw the runners in front of me. It was surreal and I was so focused that before I knew it Steve said it was 4/10ths to the finish line.

"Let's see what you got." he said, "Stay strong and focus." I nodded since that's all the energy I could muster. We sped up to what Steve said was about a sub-7:00 minute pace and finished strong. I was so excited as I approached the finish and knew Steve had very well coached me to a BIG PR!

I finished sooo strongly and tried not to cry or hypervenilate. I gave him a huge sweaty hug and thanked him about a hundred times:) I also told him I couldn't have done it without him, but he told me I gave it my all, and that's all that mattered. In fact, I ended up winning the Open Fillie competition, and my official chip time was 51:17! We even got a nerdy hardware picture with myself and Strider's Ted and Brett. Good times!

And then I proceded to consume my weight in St Arny's...lol. In fact, I was one of the last people to leave the post party. The day was just too perfect and I was on cloud nine...again a big thanks to everyone who came out to race, cheer or support today...it was so good to see HBR's Joe, Lisa, Sarah, Cassie, Jen, Holden, Edwin, Sam (burrito man!), and Erica. (I didn't get to see Steve B, although I heard he was there!)

Overall, it was a tough race (a lot of people struggled with the weather today) but it was my proudest race effort to date:) Really excited about my next race in April, the Bellaire Trolley 5k...can I PR? hmmm, after this race effort, I think so. Now, back to the hard training, partying is over and I got a couple of pounds and seconds to drop...

The STATS:
6.22miles

51.17 official chip time
ave 8:16/mile

mile1: 8:11
mile2: 8:01
mile3: 8:16
mile4: 8:18
mile5: 8:31
mile6: 8:40
mile.22: 1:17 (cookin'!)

Heart-rate: 186 ave, 204 max
Weather: humid, windy, just overall nasty.