La Scorchita race report.

(Edited 7:20 pm)
I've had my shower, so that now I don't smell like all kinds of stink and sweat and sweat and the Trinity River (apparently, you are il advised to try to cool off your legs in that thing. Who knew? Not me) So anyway. We prepared in advance by eating high-carb, high-sodium foods for supper. We also prepared for this race by getting in early (about 2 pm) to our hotel and napping and off all afternoon. We woke up around 10 and got ready, and then headed down to the park.

This was nice course, surprisingly well attended and volunteered for a race that starts are midnight. I was surprised at how fast everyone took off. What's that all about? You know, we told Mini-baboo once, "if look behind you and most of the field is back there, including some of the pros, you've gone out too fast."

I took off, wearing my headlamp and iPod, with the 15.5 milers at 12:10 am. (Yes, that's right: midnight.)
Make no mistake about it: It was humid and hot. By the end of the 15.5 miles I was stinky and wet. I did my one-minute walk, one-minute run thing and PR'd, surprising myself: 15.5 miles (25K) in 3:09. My average pace was around 12:09 or something like that. I didn't carry any water, as there were two aid stations on the 3.1 mile course about 1-1/2 mile apart. I carried my own powergels, my inhaler, and some SportLegs. I got a nice little finisher's medal.

My one complaint: I couldn't find my way back to the parking lot. There were no signs and nobody was headed back that way when I was, so I wound up walking 2 more miles to find it. That's a pretty small complaint, though, considering it was mostly my fault. By the time I'd walked most of the way back through the course I was laughing hysterically and muttering to myself, "Dude, where's my car?"
Then after a while, it wasn't funny any more. See, my stride has changed--I'm shuffling less from the knee down, and instead my legs are swinging more from the hip. The result of this is that my hips hurt like hell after a 15 mile run! OWOWOWOWOWOWIE!

I got back to the car and was grateful to find a clean dry pair of running shorts in the back. I changed, stretched a little, and then curled up in the front seat and slept for a couple hours until Sweet baboo knocked on the door.

Sweet Baboo did well, too, in the 50K. His time was about 5:45. I'll let him tell you all about it. He did mention something about how, due to a lack of planning on his part, "Mr. Johnson, et al, are not happy," because he didn't wear the right underwear.

Blink. Blink.

??

I had to think about it for a while.

Mr. Johnson? Who the hell is Mr. Johnson, and why would he care about Sweet Baboo's underwear? Wait, was Mr. Johnson one of the Marathon Maniacs that we had our pictures taken with?

Then I thought for a moment.

OOOOHHHHhhhhhh! I get it. Mr. JOHNSON.

I get it.

Okay, we go to iHop later. Right now, I shower and then I sleep.

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