Cold Wet Nose

As expected, the Nike+ Human Race in Austin was hot… Some 93 degrees hot. And despite my doomsday prediction and the one “runner on medical cart” sighting, the race barely registered on the local news. So while the heat certainly made the race a bit slower then it could have been, there were no major medical stories here… yippie.

This was Gwen and my third race together, and the first that we’ve run side-by-side the whole way. (more…)

Got the photos from the Texas Roundup 10K today from Kreutz Photography. These proofs are pretty dark, something I assume to be intentional to get people to buy real prints. Fortunately for her, they caught Gwen at the starting line when she was fresh and unfortunately for me, then caught me as I dragged myself up the last hill of the race…

Gwen crossing the starting line

Drew at mile 6

Gwen and I just finished the Texas Round-Up 10K here in Austin. Other then the goofy start and finish lines, the race and the course was really quite nice. There’s a nice slight decline at the start when everyone is jostling for position, leaving the first steady uphill until people spread out. Unlike last time, Gwen and I started together, but just like last time Gwen sprinted the first mile. While I respect the technique, it’s just not for me and I was playing catch up the rest of the race. Well, I never did actually catch her… ‘cuz she’s faster then me… at least on race day… oh well.

Results
Gwen: 49:47 (8:01 min / mile)
Drew: 52:53 (8:31 min / mile)

As a side note, Gwen has an interesting story to share:

At about mile 4, this older guy looked over, smiled, and said something like “how you doing today”… which I thought was kinda odd coming from some random runner, but whatever. I smiled back to be nice and didn’t really think about it much. Just past the finish line, the same guy patted me on the shoulder and said “nice run young lady”… Still, it was no big deal, and I went to wait for [Drew]. I didn’t realize until the awards ceremony that the guy that I was running next to was actually the Governor of Texas, Rick Perry… which is actually pretty cool! Now I’m excited that he came over and congratulated me on my race.
-Gwen

The photos of the Capitol 10K are up on BrightRoom’s site. As you can see below, the race was a bit of a soggy mess. It didn’t feel nearly as bad as it looks though:

Yeah, more racing! After my good experience at the Cap10K, I’ve decided to take on another 10K before the weather gets too hot. So I’m officially signed up for the Texas Round-Up 10K. If anyone out there is thinking about it, just do it… sign up for the 5K or the 10K.