Not my best 5k.

This morning myself, Jeff (The Sherpa for once ;) ) and Ruth Ann headed to downtown Houston to meet up with friends to run in The Astro's Race for the Pennant.  Jeff and I did this race last year and I was hoping to beat my time of 25:59.  We met up with some of the group, introduced Jeff to the 4 kids he would be supervising and then headed to the start.  I did do a little warm up job before we got going, and was feeling a bit sluggish, but it was hot and humid out, so I just chalked it up to that.  I don't do well in the heat, but planned on sucking it up anyway.

The first mile sucked, not really because of how I felt, but it was just so freaking crowded.  I truly don't understand why people who plan on walking these races start up front.  Or when they do this, why they chose to form an line across the whole lane.  And then get huffy at people who want to pass them.  So the first mile was a lot of weaving through people.  Plus, for some reason, during shorter races I get super nervous and get a huge adrenaline rush.

About a quarter of the way thru the first mile I found an opening and was able to kick it in a little more.  When I looked down at my Garmin I was doing a 7:45.  I was hurting, but was determined to suck it up.  At about the 2 mile mark we started heading up a Texas hill, or an overpass for the rest of the country, and I heard a guy yacking.  Well that did it for me.  It was so hot and humid and I was feeling it.  I couldn't hold back, but I didn't want to stop.  So I threw up in my mouth, moved over to the side, spit it out and kept on going.  I slowed down a great deal for the rest of the second mile and the beginning of the third.

At this point my friend Ruth Ann, who was behind me for the start of the race, ran past me and said, well what I heard was "come on money", when she actually said, "come on bunny" which is a bit of an inside joke. I told her I had puked and to go ahead.  We rounded the corner to the finish, where I saw my friend Ann taking pictures.  I put on a smile and kicked it in for the finish.

Ruth Ann Finishing Strong

Not such a strong finish.

I kicked it in hard, crossed the finish line, and immediately turned right and threw up again.  So much so that a volunteer at the end of the race came over to check on me.  Luckily the race finished in a tunnel so the crowd of people at the finish didn't get to watch my wonderful finish.

I didn't turn my Garmin off until after I finished throwing up, so it said 28:01.  Ruth Ann said she finished in 27:13 and I was probably about 20-30 seconds after her.  The official results aren't up yet.

I didn't beat my time from last year, but am sure that a few years ago after the first incident I would have stopped running, so overall I am happy with my performance.  There were a lot of people walking today and the fact that I kept running means something to me.  Plus, it was great to get together with friends to run the race.

  I think the combination of the heat, and the coffee I drank before the race didn't mix well.  I typically drink coffee before races, well every morning actually, so I really didn't think anything about it.  The next 5k I am running will be during my second sprint triathlon that I am doing next Sunday.  I think I am going to skip the coffee to see how that goes.  I guess only time will tell.