Race Report - Texadega Nights

First what a great concept for any event even for an old man like me.  It has been a few years since I pull something like this.  This being staying up late until the early morning hours.  But it was worth it.  Met some great people, as usual.  And I, being me, got their early, which made the night even longer.

So my day starts with me and Dawn swimming at LA Fitness that morning.  I got in around 1200 meters for this swim.  And they were some hard earned meters at that.  I spent the whole morning just trying to catch my breath.  It was like I was swimming during a race.  Which after about half way through I decided to treat it as such.  A race type swim instead of just swimming.  And well it was just hard.  For whatever reason I just couldn't get from one end to the other consistently without either swallowing water or just having an race type attack.  But I didn't quit and in the end the swim was finished and, as usual, I was fine again.  So with that being over I headed home to try and get a nap in there and something to eat before the evening event started.

Got to the race track at 9pm, got my race distance changed, and then just hung out for a few hours before the race started.  Finally it is 11:45PM, and yes I said almost midnight, my portion of the race starts.  I start my run towards the 9 miles I signed up for.  I thought I might even run more before the race started.  The first two miles were strong for me.  I ran both of those miles in a 9:30 pace but the uneven ground finally caught up to my back and I sent the next 3 miles fighting that issue.  But with my body I have learned that eventually the pain or tightness will go away.  Once my body realizes that I am not quitting it gets back to normal.  So the next mile was me deciding to run to the finish line or continue on to the final three miles.  Well, of course, I ran the final 3 miles but any additional milage just left my mind.  I was finished and to continue would just be unfair for the rest of the group to witness.  Nothing more pathic than seeing a grown man crying and crawling on towards the next mile or two.  So to save them and myself I just headed off to the finish line.  It ended up not being a bad run for me after all.  And I would do this race again in a heart beat.  Now that I know about the surface I would be better prepared for the run next year.

So I get home around 3AM and the day is finally over.