Amy's Ice Creams Cattle Drive 10-Miler
I arrived at the race site with just enough time to hit the potties. While waiting in line, the announcement was made that Evil will be announcing names at the Motorola Marathon!! Without him, a race just isn't the same. Someone on the loudspeaker said that there sure was a large turnout for a 20 mile run. The same person also said the race would have to be delayed 45 minutes. Funny. :)

Nearly everyone was lined up and I looked over the crowd trying to spot a familiar face. Eventually my eyes gave up and focused on the person in front of me. It was my ClearCube coworker buddy from last year. He's planning to run it again. Hooray! After the start, I didn't see anyone I recognized besides the fast runners I don't know personally.

As I ran a marathon two weeks ago and haven't run a whole lot since, this was going to be an easy recovery run I told myself. I felt like an ultra-slowpoke taking it slow. For the number of runners (1291 finishers), there were very few supportive people on the sidelines. Some of the beginning and ending miles were on the same road to create an out-and-back. At mile 3, the leaders ran by us on their 7th mile. The leader had no one behind him... maybe that's why he had such a big smile. It was great to cheer for him and the fastest woman. It was also cool to see Paul Carrozza (owner of RunTex and Runner's World editor) with the leaders, stopped at the last water stop. Every police officer I thanked acknowledged it and many of them returned with a supportive comment. I overhead conversations involving Team In Training, the Distance Challenge and Coach Mixon, but in the end I only talked to one other runner briefly.

At the mile 6 water stop, there was someone handing out ClifShots. I made a horrible, terrible mistake. As the ClifShot was handed to me, it fell to the ground. I reacted by stopping to pick it up, and the runner behind me nearly tripped over me. It's nearly an involuntary move to stop and pick something up especially since it fell in front of me. I better train myself to be smarter than that in the future. At every water stop were cups of water and Powerade in Gatorade cups. (Sacrilegious!) This particular stop also had ice cream cones! I took a water and a cone. It was a fun run, so why not go for the fun option? Unlike the Motorola mimosa, the ice cream didn't seem to have any ill effects on me.

Mile 8 got me bad. My digestive system revolted against the late nights of partying I've had this week, forcing me to walk. I watched a guy with a stroller knock over cones and stop to put them back up. It turned out his kid was reaching out and knocking them over with glee. Seeing the mile 9 marker as we turned south onto Congress, I could no longer just take it easy and kept my pace going. Over the bridge this ultra-sweaty and somewhat noisy guy passed me up and then started walking. I tried keeping up with him as he passed me a second time, but then he overtook me and I let him. A short while later, he stopped to walk and I cruised on by promising myself that I wouldn't let him pass me. There was a huge gap between me and the runner ahead of me at Riverside. I closed that gap by the time we had gone up the hill to the turn off Congress into the School for the Deaf. I ran up the driveway and knowing that the finish line was so close, picked up speed like crazy.

It felt so good to run with all my heart and soul (not to mention passing a few people along the way). Evil called my name out a bit before I crossed the line, so I threw my arm up to celebrate. I've missed that voice. It's so nice to be back in Austin, the beginning of running season, the beginning of Motorola training, the Distance Challenge and those glorious shared smiles between accomplished runners. Last year was so incredible, I'm excited to do it all over again. This time with miles and miles of racing under my belt. I love it all so much!!

After the race, I stood in line next to Ann, a 64 year old runner of 18 years, who ran nearly the same pace as me in the race. I noticed her because she was wearing a t-shirt for the Kiwanis Classic 5K, a race held at St. Edward's University. I asked her about the race and she said they haven't held it for a few years. Her shirt was dated 1997 and labelled "17th annual". I'm sad it's no longer around -- I'd love to race at St. Ed's. After getting my Amy's Ice Creams cone, I noticed a runner with her dog, Shelia. Both of them were licking ice cream cones. How I'd love to have a race-worthy camera to capture moments like that!

During the race, my quads were in low-to-moderate pain. It wasn't the familiar "I'm tired and would like to stop now" ache, but more of an "I'm injured from the marathon LET ME REST!" pain. I did a lot of stretching and sleeping after the race, and I'm still having quad pain. If it keeps up tomorrow, I may ice it.

Best of all, even though I took it slow, I PRed!!! (by 5 min 12.45 sec)

                                Place Chip Time  Gross Time   Difference Pace
2002 Amy's Ice Creams 10 miler  1088  1:47:40.35 1:49:03.55   01:23.20   10:46/M
2001 CSC Spot Run 10 miler      1224  1:52:52.80 1:53:51.50   00:58.70   11:17/M