The Texas Quad - The Tortoise
Want an ego boost? Enter a race with 37 people, most of whom are doing their 3rd marathon in three days, while you're doing a half marathon on fresh legs. I went looking for a race to do while visiting Dallas for Thanksgiving weekend and I found this one. They were hosting a marathon every day of the 4 day weekend. But if you want to do 13.1, that's ok too. They'll still give you a medal.
Nicest bunch of people! Everyone introduced themselves to me before the race. This group reminded me of the Austin trail running community. They are all about doing marathons. Not at all about time. Pre-race question - how many people have done 100 marathons? (Many) How many people have done 200 marathons (Still lots) They are Marathon Maniacs, which I must now research. Roxy the Pomeranian is a level 4 Marathon Maniac I'm told.
So about my race. It was a cross between a catered training day and a race. I wasn't sure which. Coach Karen gave me instructions to run progressively faster, with my last 2 miles being the fastest. The course was a 3ish mile loop around Bachman Lake, with an extra out and back at the end to get to 13.1 or 26.2. 4 loops for 13.1, 8 loops for 26.2. Mostly flat with a couple of little rollers to give your legs a little something to do. Aid station at the start/finish line, so approximately every 3 miles. Starting temperature was 41 degrees and clear. I wore compression capris, a short sleeve, and a long sleeve shirt, gloves, and a running hat.
So I did as Karen asked. I decided not to carry my fuel belt so I got a cup of water each time I passed the aid station. My mile splits:
1 - 9:55
2 - 9:46
3 - 9:34
4 - 9:09 (even walking through the aid station to get water)
5 - 9:10 (even with slowing to take off the long sleeve shirt)
6 - 9:02
7 - 9:45 (water stop)
8 - 8:55
9 - 8:59
10 - 10:19 - (water/potty stop. I wasn't gonna but the door was wide open, beckoning me)
11 - 9:04
12 - 8:40
13 - 8:16
.25 - 2:04 (8:12 pace)
Total unofficial Garmin time - 2:02:44 for 13.25 miles. No chip timing for this race, so I'll have to wait for official results to be posted to see what they thought my time was for 13.1. I was kind of trying to beat 2 hours, and if I hadn't made that potty stop, I maybe could have done it. That was where I chose training day over race.
And about that ego boost. I think I was the first to cross the finish line. Overall. Out of all 37 people, most of whom were doing the marathon. Not that it matters. They missed capturing my strong finish on film, so I re-enacted it for a picture that I hope I'll find later when they get around to posting stuff.
What a great day!
Nicest bunch of people! Everyone introduced themselves to me before the race. This group reminded me of the Austin trail running community. They are all about doing marathons. Not at all about time. Pre-race question - how many people have done 100 marathons? (Many) How many people have done 200 marathons (Still lots) They are Marathon Maniacs, which I must now research. Roxy the Pomeranian is a level 4 Marathon Maniac I'm told.
So about my race. It was a cross between a catered training day and a race. I wasn't sure which. Coach Karen gave me instructions to run progressively faster, with my last 2 miles being the fastest. The course was a 3ish mile loop around Bachman Lake, with an extra out and back at the end to get to 13.1 or 26.2. 4 loops for 13.1, 8 loops for 26.2. Mostly flat with a couple of little rollers to give your legs a little something to do. Aid station at the start/finish line, so approximately every 3 miles. Starting temperature was 41 degrees and clear. I wore compression capris, a short sleeve, and a long sleeve shirt, gloves, and a running hat.
So I did as Karen asked. I decided not to carry my fuel belt so I got a cup of water each time I passed the aid station. My mile splits:
1 - 9:55
2 - 9:46
3 - 9:34
4 - 9:09 (even walking through the aid station to get water)
5 - 9:10 (even with slowing to take off the long sleeve shirt)
6 - 9:02
7 - 9:45 (water stop)
8 - 8:55
9 - 8:59
10 - 10:19 - (water/potty stop. I wasn't gonna but the door was wide open, beckoning me)
11 - 9:04
12 - 8:40
13 - 8:16
.25 - 2:04 (8:12 pace)
Total unofficial Garmin time - 2:02:44 for 13.25 miles. No chip timing for this race, so I'll have to wait for official results to be posted to see what they thought my time was for 13.1. I was kind of trying to beat 2 hours, and if I hadn't made that potty stop, I maybe could have done it. That was where I chose training day over race.
And about that ego boost. I think I was the first to cross the finish line. Overall. Out of all 37 people, most of whom were doing the marathon. Not that it matters. They missed capturing my strong finish on film, so I re-enacted it for a picture that I hope I'll find later when they get around to posting stuff.
What a great day!