Girls on the Run 5K Recap

Shalane wins!, Kim Smith, prize money issues in San Antonio, Verzbicas and his triathlon calling, funny story about a guy losing his car after the NYC Marathon.

Friday, November 11th - 0! Tried to get a run in the morning with Crystal, but failed miserably. My sister was in town over the weekend, so had to pick her up after work so that added with the morning race = unscheduled rest day. Went to a great restaurant called Farmhaus - highly recommended. Congrats to Crystal for her 2000th mile of 2011!

Saturday, November 12th - 6 miles (1.5 up, GIRLS ON THE RUN 5K (19:20, 8/~4000, 6th male, 1st age group 30-39), 1.5 down). Nice day to run in Forest Park. Got there early to warm up around the course, and stretch. There were a crapload of people participating in the event, so lined up front thinking we had to get ahead of this angry mob. Nice to have a course tour the night before, so great to know the lay of the land (not too bad 1st mile, uber hilly 2nd mile, downhill finish). Game plan was to run a hard first mile, then drop back to tempo pace the rest of the way since the course sucked and just wasn't feeling it. Got out of the blocks ok, and blazed through the first mile. First time in a while that it was feeling easy. Had a girl who was shadowing Crystal's and I's every move, so "tactically" got her off our butts because it was getting pretty annoying. Dropped pace a bit on the 2nd mile - a little too much, as I missed the desired split badly. Crystal was moving ahead, chasing the first female, and I was in my own world with the next runner a good 20 seconds behind me. Last mile, just cruised in - completely thought there was one more major hill but there wasn't so next thing I knew, I was cruising towards the finish. Totally hammed up to the crowd, and finished the race. Fun times, and felt great! Cooled down, picked up our awards (C and I won our age groups, 7th and 8th overall (C was 2nd female)), then headed home. Mile splits were: 6:01, 6:31 (jesus), 6:00. Ate at Bailey's Range at night, located downtown. Great burgers, but the wait time was a little ridiculous. Would still go back though!

Sunday, November 13th - 10 miles. Long run with Crystal and Mike on Old Faithful. 75 and windy, not the best combination. Shirt came off 20 seconds into the run, and the sun was definitely making it warm. Was pretty tired from not much sleep, and not very focused. Took awhile to get into rhythm, but eventually did. Last few miles, was dragging a lot, and we (meaning Crystal - we got strung along for the ride) definitely picked it up trying to catch Megan and Cristina on the trail, who were running ahead of us. Soooo hot, legs felt like poop and glad to get that over with. 1:20:44 overall (41:38, 39:06 were our 5 mile splits). 41 miles this week - not bad.

That might have been my last race of the year, but a lot of fun nonetheless and some pretty cool bling. Another week of basic mileage, but may throw in an impromptu workout in there if my legs are feeling good.