Race morning I did my normal coffee, black w/3 sugars, took care of business and we headed out. Race start was scheduled for 7:30 and at 7:12 I headed out for a 2 mile warmup. I barely made it back for the start. Maybe 45 seconds after I got in the chute they brought the runners to the start and sent us off. In those few seconds I looked around and picked the young guy (he's 37) in the bright red flats to win it. Several of the women up front looked like they could tear it up so I kind of figured a top 5 finish would be about right. When the gun went off, I found myself running stride for stride with Mr. Red Shoes. At the 1/4 mile point I asked him what he planned to run and he said a sub 1:18. I asked him if he had driven the course (we had the night before and I knew it was going to be a bitch) he said he hadn't. He told me he flew in from El Paso for the race and he trained in the mountains around El Paso. I told him I couldn't match that pace and wished him good luck. In the back of my mind I thought I might find him in the gutter later. He crossed the first mile marker at 6:00 so he was on pace then. I saw him later and I had nearly been right. He cramped up at 11.5 and even walked a bit. He finished in 1:21:51, impressive on that course but he paid the price. At the 2 mile water stop I heard the cheers for Mr. Red Shoes as he approached, then a lull then a cheer for me in 2nd, then a shorter lull and a cheer for 3rd. I could tell from the volume that it was a woman behind me. At the 3 mile water stop I heard the cheer for Red Shoes and a longer lull, a cheer for me and a much shorter lull and a cheer for 3rd. Shit, she was gaining quickly. I had maybe 200 meters on her. When the course finally went into a freefall at mile 5 I pushed the downhill hard posting a 6:28. I figured that would put some distance on her but at the 6.5 turn around she was only 100 meters back. Shit Shit. I gave her a high five as we passed and then noticed the head wind. I gave every thing I had but that screaming downhill now looked like Pikes Peak and the wind was stiffer than I expected. I put some serious effort into the first mile of the hill and then slowed significantly posting a 7:26 mile 8. By the time we reached mile 9 I could hear her breathing and her bicycle escort passed me. Shit Shit Shit. We were on Hwy 71 and had a pretty good climb ahead and I decided to see if I could mount a surge. I went as hard as I could for maybe a 1/3 mile and heard her yell something as I made the turn onto Pope Bend Rd. I never looked back, kept my head down and pushed as hard as I could hoping to get back some of the minute I lost on mile 8 and still PR. When I went through the water stop past 10, I listened for the next cheer but didn't hear one. Hmmm. I knew the course was mostly downhill from here with 3 or 4 good rollers. Kind of like southbound Exposition on steroids. At mile 12 I had it licked. I glanced back but couldn't see 3rd place and pushed it in. I think the crowd had fallen asleep between Mr. Red Shoes and me and was disappointed I wasn't a woman. After finishing I stayed in the chute to congratulate 3rd when she finished. She came in 18 seconds later and got a huge cheer. She thanked me for setting a good pace and when I asked what happened at 9 she said she got a side stitch. I thanked her for pushing me since I might have backed off if I were back in the pack after the big climb. I later looked her up, Julia Hooks, age 28, beat me by over 6 minutes at the '05 Pervasive 10 miler. I'll take a little credit for giving her a stitch with my surge!
After finishing, I grabbed a water and a banana and headed back out to catch up with Ruth Anne and run her in. It was about then that I noticed I had blisters on two toes but I kept running. Met her about 2 miles out and she had slowed some but still looked strong. There were young runners blowing by her on the downhills but Ruth Anne passed most of them on the next climb. I escorted her in and she actually dropped me near the end. We hung out for a couple of hours eating, drinking and chatting with finishers. Around noon the last shuttle left for Austin and we headed to the room for showers and naps. We modeled our finisher's necklaces for each other and agreed they look stunning on both of us!
After napping, we headed for the pool, ate a burger and had the bartender make us a couple of 1800 Anejo Smash drinks. We had another great dinner, 2 bottles of wine and a good nights sleep.
After napping, we headed for the pool, ate a burger and had the bartender make us a couple of 1800 Anejo Smash drinks. We had another great dinner, 2 bottles of wine and a good nights sleep.This morning I got up and ran 5 miles. The power had gone out at the resort sometime in the early morning and was still off. They ran out of hot water just before I finished my shower! We tried to check out and get some breakfast but that was a fiasco. On the way home we checked out the McKinney Rough trail head and decided we should bring the horses out for a trail ride soon. I'm actually looking forward to it. All in all, a great weekend of running and related fun.
Next up Boston! Zooma splits: 6:45 6:55 6:55 6:44 6:37 6:28 6:55 7:26 6:53 6:57 6:39 6:43 6:37 0:38 (6:20 pace). 1:29:20 time, 6:50 average pace, one bitch of a course.
