When the alarm went off at 5:25 this morning I almost rolled over and went back to sleep. I really didn’t feel like driving downtown to run the Fleet Feet 8.4K. But Carter spurred me out of bed saying that yes, I did want to run, and off we went.
It was pretty hot and humid (note to the weather gods: I know it’s Houston, but come on, it’s November! Make it cooler already!) The race started off pretty well as I managed to keep myself going a bit slower than the sub-10:00 I started off with at the Marine Corps 8K two weeks ago. I passed through mile 1 in 10:20 and mile 2 in 20:40. I was trying to keep Jon in my sights as he slowly pulled away. Jessica was already long gone with her speedy self, and Holden and Buzz were still chillin’ back at the start line waiting for the 25K to begin.
So I started with two consistent 10:20 miles…but unfortunately I knew that was probably too fast for me. I watched the lead runners (including Sam, who I finally met in person after the race) head back on the other side of the street and stopped to walk at the first water station just past mile 2 and that’s when I turned to see Cassie running up from behind me. If Cassie’s behind me, I was definitely going too fast — because Cassie’s faster than me!
She had a good pace going though, so we ran together for a while. As we made the turn to start the back half of the race and head back towards downtown, the first 25K runners started to pass us (they’d started 15 minutes after the 8.4K). Geez are those guys fast. Amazing.
Cassie and I passed through 3 miles in 31:30 and continued along together until ~3.5 miles when I finally needed another walk break. As I told everyone after the race, if it’d been a 5K it would’ve been my fastest time in months!
Mile 4 was pretty rough, as I finally started to pay for going out a bit fast on a hot and humid day. I stopped several times to walk in 30-second spurts before finally running in the last 3/4 of a mile. I finished the 5.2-mile course in 56:07 for an average pace of 10:48/mile.
So after averaging 10:30 through 3 miles, I must’ve average more like 11:10 miles for the final 2.2. I felt pretty crappy at the finish line, and even a little nauseous, but that quickly went away. I wish I’d been able to keep up with Cassie (she finished 3 minutes ahead of me), but c’est la vie. I’m pretty happy with my run overall though, despite my pace being slightly slower than I did two weeks ago in DC. (Then again, the weather was much better for running in DC!)
All in all, it was a good race and I enjoyed seeing everyone. It’s so cool that I know so many people in the running community now — it really makes races even more fun. Up next for me is the Uptown Turkey Trot 10K on Thanksgiving, though next weekend I think I will be taking photos at the Tulane Med School 10K.
Holden says
Good to see you again. It is way cool for me to be able to go to a large race where I know a whole bunch of people. Wow! I had a brutal run today. That heat was getting to me during the 3rd loop. Never the less, I was able to finish before the race closed. LOL.
Jon says
Sarah, good to see you and it was a pleasure to meet Carter. Way to go today! Yeah, my pace would have been closer to a 31-minute 5K .. but I agree – the heat isn’t fun anymore.
I also couldn’t help but think that you’d have to run basically that same course next Sunday with the Tulane Med 10K. I hate it! Maybe picture-taking will be better, but you (and me both) need the miles too! (You said you wanted gentle prodding from the group!)
And you need to teach Holden, while he did a great job as RTW photographer yesterday, that he’s not allowed to take profile shots of me! (Actually, it is more like ugh!, I need to keep working.)
Cassie says
I will be running the Tulane 10k and Manny will be making his Houston 10k debut! His last (only?) previous 10k was in LA back in 1997. If you spot us try to get a pic and you’ll have a definite sale!
lisaleese says
Drat! I missed the rest of the HRBs by getting to the race too late.. Didn’t know you kids were running the 8.4!!! Congrats to all!
Jessica, a Houston Runner says
I didn’t get to see you finish, but i was glad i got to see you at the start!
-Jessica
Another Jen says
Great job on the 8.4K!! I’ll see you (hopefully) at the 10K Turkey Trot next week!
🙂