Sunday, July 20, 2008

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.

...

20 comments:

  1. Congrats! Sound like a nice little race. This time of year, I like the idea of running at midnight.

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  2. Anonymous9:07 AM

    Nice pace...you're getting faster and stronger every day!!

    Congrats to Baboo, too!

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  3. I am a night-owl and LOOOOOOVE the idea of a midnight race. Morning runs and races (almost all of them, right?) have been the most painful part of the running experience for me (really...it's not the running part, it's the getting out of bed part that hurts :-)

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  4. Great job- your pace was awesome!

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  5. CONGRATS! You are really getting fast!

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  6. Congratulations you crazy runner, you!

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  7. Well done! I would have been hard pressed to stay up late enough to race (even with a nap!) but racing in the cool of the night sounds appealing.

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  8. Congratulations!

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  9. Well done! A nice time and in the heat to boot! Congrats.

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  10. I have a neice who is training for the San Fransisco marathon (her 1st) and she told me she was doing a 15K race this weekend too. I think that sounds like a fun distance. A midnight start isn't quite my thing though.

    Good job on the PR.

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  11. Lisa, mine was actually a 15 mile (25k) race. It's a bit longer - 15k would be around 9 miles.

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  12. Congrats to you and Sweet Baboo! And Mr. Johnson too for hanging in there. Doh!

    Your time is awesome! Congratulations!!

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  13. congrats on the race. that sounds like a cool race.

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  14. Better watch out, you are going to have to change the name of your blog you are almost no longer an Athena and you are pulling away from the back of the pack.

    Nice job on a cool race! And your hubby? Whoa! Blazin' fast!

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  15. Hey, I would love to buy you a cup of coffee in Guerneville next weekend.

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  16. Great job misty!
    :)

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  17. hey, thanks for the nice comments on my blog.. it was crazy out there in fort worth, but i agree with your post. the support was great. and dont feel bad about losing your car. i jog that trail about once a week and was semi delirious after running and couldnt find my car for a while either.

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  18. Nice race and nice pace, Misty.
    Mr. Johnson comment pretty funny--I'm like that some days--just a le-e-etle slo-o-w on the punch line. Wait. Fro me, make that most days.
    :)

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  19. I remember seeing that tattoo somewhere along the way ... congrats on your run!

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