38F, 82%, N 20 mph, wind chill in the 20s, probably the coldest morning so far this year, but at least it was dry. Today we ran the Baytown Jailbreak Half Marathon, which benefits the local police department there. I decided to invest a little bit in a mini-taper for this race when I saw it was going to be cool and dry, though I hadn't counted on the wind. I ran only 6 on Thursday and none yesterday, so not a good week mileage-wise.
I picked up Wade and Linda a little after 5:00 and we drove to Baytown, about an hour from Northwest Houston where we live. We couldn't believe the wind we were going to face on the second half of the course. On the way we started talking about goal splits, at which point I remembered that my Garmin was safely stashed on top of my cabinet at the house. Wade is probably ready to drop me as a running buddy, seems like I am always up to something, getting lost in 5Ks, tripping over roots, multiple detours to the bushes and now no watch. You would think I could just show up and run without making a spectacle of myself. It didn't actually matter too much today, because I didn't know how fast to run it anyway. One of the goals of this race was to figure some of that out. Thinking back on my tempo runs, my tendency is to slack off toward the end of each mile until I get my split readout, at which point I pick it back up. So if I could stay conscious of running at an even, hard effort I figured I could do OK.
We got to the start a little early and picked up our packets, but first I made a well-timed trip to the facilities, of course. Then we scurried back to the car, which was parked a couple of blocks away. Should have heard us complaining and wondering what we were doing out there, it was flat out cold. We got back out a few minutes before the start, made our irrevocable decisions as to the amount of clothing each of us would haul for 13.1 miles, and made our way to the start line in time for the prayer and the national anthem. They warned us that the start would be non-traditional. All of a sudden this guy in a striped suit comes running out and a gun goes off without any announcement. Some people started running and others stood around, including me of course. But eventually we all got the idea.
Went out at a quick pace and stayed within a couple of hundred yards of the leaders for two miles, but they gradually pulled away. Low 6s per mile won this last year (it is a small race with a pretty slow field), so I knew I needed to stay close to the front for a while at least if I was going to get a good time. I ended up running with the first place woman (and eventual winner) most of the way to the turnaround, she seemed to know what she was doing and I thought it would be a good idea to stick with her. She had very heavy footsteps even though she was small, and my Jingas were tap-tapping away, quite a combination. I left her at the top of the bridge, she came in 2 or 3 minutes behind me.
The turnaround is a tall bridge that spans the Houston Ship Channel, 177 feet above road level. It is about 3/4 of a mile climb to the top, quite steep for the last quarter mile, I could feel the burn. Then we turned around into the wind. Wade was coming up when I was going down and he yelled "47:17" as he passed. I didn't know whether that was his time or mine, but later in a more lucid moment I finally figured out that it was both of our times. After up-loading his run he sent me an e-mail saying that it was at the 6.8 mile point for me on the way down, which meant that I had a 6:57 average to that point, which included climbing the bridge but not yet going all the way down it, and a 7:20 average the rest of the way, meaning I lost 23 seconds per mile going into the wind. Wade lost only 14, but either way this could be interesting for both of us on a flat course with no wind. Sub-7s looks remotely possible, though not likely. We are running the Woodlands half in a few weeks so it will be an interesting comparison.
I was in 6th place coming off the bridge when some scuzz-bucket passed me, complaining about the wind. I hung with him for a while until the aid station at mile 8. He stopped for a drink and I left him there. He hung around for the rest of the race but once I hit mile 11 I knew I had enough to bear down a little bit and maintain my place. I beat him pulling away. The guy in front of me, though, was uncatchable. A little disappointing because he had gray hair. He got 5th place overall and first masters, 54 years old.
There was no clock at the finish line. I desperately tried to find out from somebody what the gun time was, finally somebody said 1:32. I was a little skeptical but went with it (loud and clear to anybody who would listen) until actual times were posted. Actual time was 1:33:47, average pace 7:09 per mile, 3-minute PR for this distance. Wade had an optimistic goal of 1:42 and he got 1:41. When he finished it seemed really funny to us how cold it was. Everything seems funny after you don't have to run anymore. Linda beat her Huntsville time by 12 minutes, 2:09, so everybody was happy.
With the exception of the masters winner, who wasn't listed in the individual age group categories, I beat all the age groups from 30 on up. There were 4 guys in the 26-30 group who were faster than us. 1:20 won it, so not a fast race, but about right for my abilities. About 200 entrants I think. We plan to go back next year if we can. Got a cool, large age group plaque which they let me pick up early, then had to hurry back to Houston because Linda just published a children's book and had to show up for a book-signing obligation. Fun times in Houston today. | 