Texas LoopMeet and 5K RR

I have a nephew in Texas who plays football, and is a senior in high school, so we decided to take a quick trip out to Texas to catch some Friday Night Lights action. The whole fam damily decided to join in on the fun, so it was a chance to meet with both my brothers, their wives, and my parents for a little reunion weekend in Austin.


 
And of course, when I travel, I look for loop meets and races! Austin had a variety of options that weekend, including the Thong Jog, but I settled on the Boo 5K in Georgetown because it was close to us and close to Scheshter. The other local, Natalie (NewMexicanAtHeart), was also able to make it, even though she didn't race. So it was a nice little mini-Loop meet!

It was a pleasure to meet both of these ladies. Of course they were wonderful and we got along like old friends, yada, yada...

My whole family came, and both brothers and one SIL also ran the 5K. I did a little warmup jog with my twin, and you can see that our form is similar. We prefer not letting our feet touch the ground.

Meanwhile, DW and the lady loopsters got along famously, although I wasn't sure if DW would ever let go of the baby.

The race was a pretty low-key affair. It was geared toward kids and costumes, many of whom did the 1 mile. The 5K was a straight out and back along a river, on a paved bike path. It was a little warm and humid for this Californian, upper 70's. My plan was to just see how I felt and run hard. I had not run at all in almost two weeks, and have been babying my plantar fasciitis. But the foot felt good, so I figured I would see what I could do. I hoped for sub-21, but really was looking at placement, as I figured it shouldn't be too hard to win my AG. And of course, I needed to beat my brother, so I couldn't slack too much.

We started on the narrow bike path, so I got stuck behind three rows of kids. See my head there?

But they cleared out pretty quick, and I got to pick them off for the first 1/4 mile or so.

Natalie's DH Dan was having fun and flying!

I settled in behind a fast dude and soon I was basically alone and racing my watch. Went through mile 1 in 6:45 and was feeling the pain. By now I was in 6th place, with 5 guys pretty far ahead, and no one very close behind. The heat was hot and the ground was dry but the air was full of sound. Or maybe it was in my head. My pace was getting closer to 7:00 and at this point I was just hanging on to the pace and trying not to give in to the urge to relax. No one to chase, no PR to beat. Why was I suffering like this again?
Ah, it's a race. That's what we do. Mile 2 was about 6:55.

After the turnaround, I knew how far ahead and behind everyone was. My bro was behind me a little, but not enough where I didn't need to worry. I thought since I was fading, maybe he might catch up. But I didn't want to look back and see nothing, which would then give me permission to slow down. So I kept pushing, as if he were right behind me. Early in mile 3 my lap pace showed 7:12. Well that would not do. So I pushed a little more and got it below 7 and just...suffered. It would be over soon.

And then it was. The finish came in sight. No one was near me, and I cruised it in.

 

21:20. Nothing special there. But at least it was under 7 minute pace. I ended up 6th, and won my AG. Bro came in 40 seconds later and took 2nd AG. Soon Dan came in and was still running happy and flying!

Scheshter was making it a Fun Run too!

So, good times, if not "good times" were had by all.

There was a raffle, and.....I won! Some coffee beans and mugs.

And then we dominated the 50-59 category at the awards ceremony, picking up 1st and 2nd in the Men's, and 3rd in the Women's for my SIL.

But the real prize was waiting in Scheshter's car; Dutch Apple Pie and Cinnamon Rolls!!! So we took those home and devoured them within 24 hours before hopping a plane pack to Cali. Delicious!!!

Just another fabulous Loop meetup/race-winning/family reunion/pig-out weekend!
Life is Good!