I positioned myself at the front (5 seconds behind the gun), and went out pretty quick (again, for me), and felt fine. I didn't pay much attention to my Garmin, but at the 1 mile marker, I realized I had only been running for 7:17, and if I wanted to finish the race perpendicular to the ground and NOT on a stretcher, I should probably slow down a tad. This was good timing as we hit some headwind (of course we did, this is TEXAS) and some gradual hills that snuck up on us. At the next mile marker, I checked my time and 15:36 was a good place for me, so I rolled with it. Getting to the point of about 2.5 miles, a couple dudes took off at a much faster clip. I grabbed onto their heels and stayed with them. About 2/10 of a mile out from race finish, they faded and I saw my chance at glory (ha!). I hit another gear and then another and blasted by a LOT of people in that last 2/10th of a mile. I was in a full sprint, as you can tell by my max speed for that :43 seconds, which was 13.5 mph. I have some wheels, when I want them to work. Ever try to run 13.5 mph? Give it a shot at the end of your next 5K. It's exhilarating, to say the least.

Not a thing. I stuck to a pretty simple plan...go from the front at race start and go hard for a mile, reel it in some for mile 2, then hit it for mile 3 and sprint to the finish. I PR'd by 7 seconds (don't laugh, I still PR'd), and was quite pleased that I actually hit and STAYED in Z3 for an entire race. What a concept.

Well, I started in the front and finished before 1400 other people, so I found a high perch and watched everyone come by and flagged down my would-be pacee's as they finished one by one. We got everyone collected and then it was ON. The feast, that is. Beer/wine/margaritas flowing, food everywhere. Post-race, I consumed 2 cups of Gatorade, 1 small bottle of water, 1 orange, 1 banana, 2 glasses of shiraz, 5 Michelob Ultra beers and a homemade granola bar. There was lot's of great food everywhere, but as you can see, those beer/wine lines were just too big of a draw for me.


Genetics? I am not a runner; I only do it because that is where they place the finishing mat at the conclusion of a triathlon.


Fun, fun, fun race! Not because I ran a good race, but because the people, the atmosphere, the location, the post-race party (there were still 1000 people partying when I left at 9:30pm, a good 2 1/2 hours AFTER the race)..it was just a nice event, and I will be doing it next year. The tech shirt is a dri-fit and pretty sweet looking.. it's white, not peach or dayglow yellow or something. Oh, a funny thing happened at the race conclusion.. the girl taking off timing chips was kneeling in front of me and as I approached, I noticed her not using scissors to eradicate the timing chips from racers' shoes. The scissors were laying on the ground right next to her. She was ripping the timing chips off. It never occured for me to stop her when I got to her, but knowing I have Yankz, which are in a sense BUNGEE CORDS, I watched her yank (lol) my timing chip back about 6 inches, I watched my Yanks go with her hand, I watched her jaw drop as the timing chip slipped out of her hand, I watched her nearly fall over from laughter as the timing chip sprung back to it's initial perch with extreme urgency, which just so happened to make a loud thud as it struck the top of my poor, defenseless foot. THAT'S gonna leave a mark. And it did. I still think it was funny. The price you pay for a good laugh these days...