Handled

Race DAY!

Always fun, even if you don't really feel prepared!

This Sunday Derick and I decided to do the THTH Race sponsored, timed, and made awesome by Run On! It is called Too Hot To Handle for a reason- it takes place in July in Texas. Luckily the race started at 7:30 am, so we could actually survive and didn't have to rename the race "Too Hot to Handle so We Took a Ride in an Ambulance". Plus the weather was somewhat nice to us and the first half of our race was hleped out with some amazing cloud cover!

After the race-
both of us were happy
to be done with the hills!

The race was at Boerne City Lake in Boerne, Texas. If you have never been, the park is pretty awesome- trails, roads, and a lake to jump in! Perfect if you are a trialthlete! (Emily Watts- you should come visit me and check the place out!) I first visited the place to help out at the Tall Texan Triathlon and saw how great the place is if you need to get multiple modes of training in all in one location. Today we would only be utilizing the running aspect of the park. It was time to get our Run On!

With the AMAZING Mary Hamm-
One of the toughest people I know!

THTH features both a 5k and a 15k along Upper Cibilo Creek Road right outside the park. Both the 5k and 15k start at the same time and follow the same course- the 5k flips after halfway on an out and back course while the 15k runners get to keep heading out through the outskirts of Boerne. Derick and I both did the 15k and the racers stayed on the same road for an out and back course except for one right turn at mile 5-6 for an add on loop before heading back to the main road and the park.

My goal was to start the race around 7 minute pace and see how I handled the distance. This would be my longest race ever (if you don't count the half marthon I did with a friend back in December) and I was feeling less than prepared for the race. My work out earlier in the week had consisted of a sad little tempo where Derick destroyed me and my shufflebutt-hip complex beat me to pieces mentally and physically. While I knew my hip couldn't take the speed of competing in the 5k yet, I knew I was not in the right kind of shape to handle such a long race in the 15k either. But what coach says goes, so I put on my regular training shoes (I am ever so thankful for my pair of Brooks Adrenaline running shoes) instead of my racing flats hoping they would help me actually finish the distance!

After the gun went off and Derick pushed up to the front of the pack, I was left to wonder how the race was actually going to play out. I think one of the fun parts about the race was that everyone had the same kind of bib numbers. Some races have different bibs for the people doing different distances. Today, no one could tell who was doing which race (until we passed the 5k turnaround of course)! Derick and I were probably in the top 20 to start, and I was trying to be a bit more conservative, but I couldn't tell who was in the 5k and who was 15k! The pace at the front seemed like they might be doing the 5k, but I couldn't decide who. I was the only girl in the group until this sweet young lady caught up to me- Devin Clark, the womens over all winner in the 5k (she's only 14!!!). I told her to go catch the boys once we saw them turn around at the 5k flip. I was not-so-secretly wishing I could flip around with her! The boys in the lead were not too far in front of us and it would have been a lot of fun chasing them down.... but my path for the day was much longer.

I think some people call it character building? I think I would call it a gut check. Passing that turn around was a hard thing to do. I had to go against everything I am used to doing- short and fast. I was going to have to figure out what it would take to get me to the finish line of three 5k's in a row! It helped that Derick was in front and I could still see him for some of the race. The course was condusive to keeping a good rhythm because there were hills intermixed with some awesome straights to always give yourself a way to get your legs back. Plus, no one really had an advantage that way- if you were great at hills there were plenty for you to work, but there were also those flat fast zones too for people who could just roll. After the first 2 miles I was basically by myself and just trying not to let the guys I could see in front of me get any farther away. 

The Run On! Chicken-
Competed in the 5k

I ended up catching two guys (one being the D-rock) but the men up front were flying and ended the race in a 52 minute something time! So fast! It was fun to see them at all the turn-arounds with the lead bike, they were so smooth. My legs held together to average 6:36 mile pace for the 15k. My splits showed the two hills I had a tough time with and did some soul searching on, but my last mile was in 6:06 and reminded me that I haven't totally switched over to the dark side (the darks side meaning distances over a 5k!). The 1:01:38 it took me to finish the course got me 8th place overall and I was the first woman by 14 minutes or so. Derick ended up finishing in 1:03 and still had a smile on his face (at least for pictures). For his first race back, after running when ever he felt like it for preparation, he did pretty decent! Results up: 15k Overall.

My hip is extrememly stiff and sore the day after, but that is to be expected when I had to race off to work after the event was over! I have been seeing a chiropractor, Dr. Vanessa Vajdos and she has been helping put me back together a bit! She seriously cured the head cold I had for the whole week in one visit and made my hip run-able again. We went to see her because she is a runner herself! She won the Houston Marathon in 1980 and was sponsored by Nike! It was really fun to pick her brain, ask for advice, and hear about some major history on the running scene. Her coach Al Lawrence wrote a book that Derick has had for a while and her picture is in it with all her training! Now it has a fresh autograph on it from Dr. Vajdos! She knew a lot about the runners of her time and some awesome stories. She also gave great advice! :) My favorite part was when I asked her how hard it was to get sponsored and try the competitive running thing. She let me in on a few secrets....

Still banged up, still hoping, still running, and still smiling...

THTH you have been HANDLED