El Scorcho 25k

Why yes, that is a post-race beer at 3:00 am

This is a race that starts at midnight in Ft. Worth.  It's a 5k loop that is a mix of concrete path, grass, gravel and trail.  I LOVED IT!!!  The best part about a loop?  You get to run by your friends at the finish line 5 times.  Courtney was there because Rob and Kris were running so that made it extra special for me to get to see her every loop.  I ran with Kelly the first three loops and just kept a nice, comfortable pace.  Our pace was averaging about a 9:30 mile but with my two bathroom stops and refilling of bottles, the overall time is about 10:23 minute miles.  The good news is that I ran 50 miles last week.  I haven't hit that sort of running mileage since training for the Lake Tahoe Marathon in 2002.  I had done 2 hours on Friday, ran 3 Saturday morning, the 25k Saturday night and then 3 again Sunday.  Except for Friday when my legs were dead, I felt awesome every run.  I could beat myself up about my 10 min miles but in regard to TransRockies, it's really important I focus on how quickly I'm recovering.   That will be the key to me getting out there everyday even when I think I'm too tired.  

I highly recommend this race.  It was really well organized, the aid station was great, and the crowd support was even better.  The Cowtown Marathon had an awesome aid station where they handed out cold paper towels.  That was the best part of every loop!!  The weather was actually not too bad, humid and hot Texas style, but with no sun, it felt comfortable.  

This weekend Diana and I are traveling to Bossier City, LA for the River Cities Triathlon.  I'm incredibly under-trained for the swim and bike but I should do good on the run!  After that I'll have one more hard week and weekend of running then it's time to taper for TransRockies!