Elves On The Run

Saturday I ran in the Elves on the Run 5k.  It was a night time race through the streets of Houston.  The weather was going to be interesting, as we were expecting a front to move through... timing was going to be critical. I carefully chose my outfit paying more attention to the precipitation aspect instead of the temperature.

Flat Runner

The weather was seeming to hold and the bad storms were keeping to the west of Houston for the most part. Well, up until the time that I started to get ready to leave.  The hubs was not pleased that I was going to be driving about an hour both ways to go run in the rain.  As I was packing up, we got notice of a tornado warning in the area, thankfully it was set to expire at about the time I was going to hit the road.  I scooted off to downtown Houston without the hubs blessing.  About 10 miles into my trek, I realized that I had left my bib at home.  I proceeded, hoping that they could help me out at the registration table before the race and that I would get there in enough time to spare.  Traffic, as it always is when you want to get anywhere, was temperamental and I was beginning to freak out as I saw minutes being added to my ETA on the Garmin.  I managed to arrive, and get parked with time to spare... and the kind folks putting on the run were able to hook me up with a new race bib.  I was set to run!

I headed out to the starting line and was lining up, when I spotted a porta-potty with what looked like a small line, I jumped in line... later learning that the end of the line was a few people back. Ugh, it was beginning to seem like it was not my night!  I managed to get to the back of the line without incident and made it in and out right as they were counting down seconds to the start.  Three, two, one and we were off.  I did the usual slow down and weave for the first quarter mile.  At a mile in, I realized that I had started out too fast. At about a mile and a half in, I began wondering where all these hills came from... Houston is flat, right?    At about mile 2, I began regretting my lunch choice as I started belching it... note to self, Schlotzsky's isn't a safe choice pre-race. I ended up walking for a bit a couple of times, but was able to pull it together and give it all I had at the finish.

Almost to the finish line

I finished at a respectable 28:58, 30 seconds off my last 5k.  At the finish, they presented me with a finishers medal (actually placed it over my head and on my neck) and handed me a bottle of water.  I wandered around the food tents and grabbed breakfast for in the morning (a banana and granola bar).  I was ready to get out of my soaking shoes and jacket.

Sweaty selfie with my race bling

I got to my car and switched out of my soaked shoes and socks into my favorite post run flip flops. Took off the jacket and my shirt and changed into a new dry shirt.  My capris didn't seem too terribly wet. It felt good to be out of the cold wet clothes.

I was a little bummed that I had to walk during the run, I did not want to have to walk.  When I looked at my mile splits, I then understood why I felt the way I did going into mile 3...

• Mile 1 = 8:55


• Mile 2 = 9:09


• Mile 3 = 10:06

I can run perfect negative splits in my training runs, I need to focus more on what it feels like so I don't go all out and bail on my next race.

All in all, it was a good race... I had fun and I even made it home before the storms got too bad!