Saturday, May 12 Recap: Two 5Ks and More
This past Saturday was fairly busy, but fun. It sort of went like this:
1. Run The Woodlands 5K, Barbara Bush Elementary, The Woodlands, 8:00 a.m.
2. YMCA Trail Run 5K, Conroe, 9:15 a.m.
3. Egg and I, post-race breakfast with Waverly, The Woodlands
4. Write my weekly Conroe Courier running column at home.
5. Drop Waverly off at my Mom's so they could go to the Astros game together.
6. Attend the HARRA Picnic at Memorial Park from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
The YMCA Trail Run 5K was the first leg of the spring version of the Montgomery County Triple, but some people were thinking about the Quad - doing both 5Ks on Saturday morning.
Well, I'll be in Fargo, North Dakota (where it won't be as cool as I hoped it would be) this coming Saturday, but two 5Ks in one day sounds like my kind of fun.
Run The Woodlands 5K
At Run The Woodlands 5K, the first person that I see there, of course, is Bill Dwyer. He had already gone to Conroe to pick up the race packet for myself and Debbie Tripp, plus to see how long it was going to take to get there. (I heard him mention 18 minutes, but I also heard Monty Lynes telling him that it might take a bit longer.) Cathy Steele of Luke's Locker was there to run the show.
However, the event was going to be fun as two good friends were running the event -- John Yoder and Kim Hager. One of the friendliest guys in racing and his wife, Tinette, had made the trip north to The Woodlands and, well, I knew that Kim was going to run, but what surprised me was that - until a conflict developed in her schedule - she was going to do the Trail Run 5K! (I guess she probably wouldn't have got stuck in the mud at all.)
From my perspective, I wasn't going to try and go all out since I was running a second 5K in less than an hour, but also since I had only worked out once because of my foot. I didn't do too bad considering that as I posted a time of 30:31.64 (30:32, for the record.) The starting temperature was a humid 69 degrees.
Mile 1 -- 9:29.83 (I noticed that immediately the blue dots were now yellow.)
Mile 2 -- 10:05.37
Mile 3 -- 10:04.70
Last .1 -- 51.74
Before I made the first turn on to Alden Bridge, and while I was running a bit with Tim Vibrock of The Woodlands, I saw Holden Choi. He was out on a 7-mile run and couldn't race because he needed to be at a meeting in Houston for work! (I had a chance to see many of the RTW regulars that I haven't seen since January - Wayne Rutledge, Tom Hippe (who was testing out the Chi method of running), Danny Gilbreath from Houston, Jim Braden, Denise Van Kuiken and Lou Wilson, who really had a nice 5K as he finished in 27:48.)
John ran out about three-quarters of a mile to run in with his wife, who had just passed me, to bring her in under 30 minutes. (I jokingly told him after I finished that I thought he was coming out to run me in!) After chatting with a few folks, it was off to Conroe!
I got lucky and hit all of the lights pretty well. Bill and Debbie got "tripped" up by a few. The parking situation was a little chaotic at the Conroe YMCA; however, that meant that they had a great turnout - and good for them!
YMCA Trail Run 5K
Bill had warned me early that the course was pretty muddy and, as we got into the woods, that became pretty obvious. In those early stages of the race, I ran a little bit with Rick Cook's neighbor and fellow blogger, Karen Felicidiaro, before she got on her own pace (which was just a tad bit faster than mine.) I passed Seven Hills Running Club president Ken Johnson as well as Michael Kove before we started to hit the mud.
After the first mile, which was an unflattering 10:30-something, I could tell that the two back-to-back might not have been a great idea. But at that point, what was I going to do ... know that Bill and Ken were back there and let them catch me? Yeah, right. :)
At one point while we were going out, there was a small loop which brought the leaders back going the opposite direction. I saw former Caney Creek HS runner Andrew Perry on the course, but I didn't see him in the results.
My splits (they had half mile markers) were as follows:
Mile 0.5 -- 4:49.43
Mile 1.0 -- 5:44.72 (10:34.15)
Mile 1.5 -- 5:48.17 (16:22.32)
Mile 2.0 -- 6:18.59 (22:40.91; 11:06.76)
Mile 2.5 -- 5:48.10 (28:29.01)
Last .6 -- 5:57.82 (34:26.83)
In the last mile, I saw Bill Thompson of Conroe, who is a really nice guy. I enjoyed catching up with him a little bit since I believe that the last time that I saw him was at the Run Thru The Woods 5-Miler on Thanksgiving Day. With about a half of mile to go, I had to let him go on ahead of me.
After finishing the race and watching a number of runners that I knew cross the finish line, including Coach Bill himself, I introduced myself to Kent, who works for Run Wild Sports Timing. I saw Kent up in Oklahoma City on the Saturday night before the race, but hadn't met him before. We had a really good conversation and as I headed to the Pavillion to get the results for my Sunday column in the Courier, I met race director Roxanne Davis with the YMCA. We had a good conversation.
As I got to the Pavillion, I saw two of my really good friends from The Woodlands - Frank Halter and Pam Paling. Pam's a school teacher in The Woodlands so it gave me the opportunity to embarrass - in a positive way, of course - Waverly (and brag about her academic accomplishments.) Pam's always been an encourager to Waverly and I really appreciate that.
(Both she and Frank had a good day as Pam took first in her age group while Frank came in second. Winners of age group awards got a thick piece of wood with the name of the event and the award shaved into the wood. Really nice awards!)
I had a couple of people walk up and introduce themselves as they have indicated that they read my column in The Courier -- Jim Nichols from Conroe, whose son finished second overall and runs for Willis HS, and Ruth Fields of Montgomery, who was the second Masters finisher overall and who also writes for The Courier.
After that, I hung out with a number of friends from Seven Hills Running Club (which included Ken and Jan Parks), The Woodlands Running Club (including Carlos Ortegon, Stephen Smith and Buck Snyder) and the Luke's Locker Beat programs. I met one of The Woodlands' top runners, Lee Harlicker. (Bill introduced me to him.)
I joked that I'm not sure what it said that I knew all three age group winners in the 60-and-over division -- The Woodlands Running Club's Mike Mendeck, Luke's Locker Beat program participant Ronald Longtin and Seven Hills Running Club president Ken Johnson.
Mid-Afternoon
Waverly and I stopped at Egg and I in The Woodlands for a late breakfast. Since it was closer to noon, we didn't have to wait at all to get a seat. (This place is always busy. It is located off of Research Forest Drive and is on the north side of the road, just west of Interstate 45. It is on the way and back from Run The Woodlands 5K.) As we were waiting on our food, we saw Frank and Pam again.
After leaving, we got back to the house and I pounded out my column before taking Waverly to my Mom's so they could go to the Astros game together.
From there, I was headed to the HARRA Picnic in Memorial Park.
HARRA Picnic
The event had a pretty good turnout. When I got there, Erin Foley and Ben Harvie were working the check-in table. Behind the table, relaxing (of course), was Gerardo Mora. (Three fast people that I could only catch in my sleep!)
I spent a lot of time talking with Gerardo. A little bit into the conversation, Anna Helm came over as well as John Hedengren, his wife and children. John and Gerardo gave me updates on their "On The Run"-sponsored teams for this weekend's Beach To Bay Relay. (I can't tell anybody though!)
I had a chance to visit a bit with Steve Schroeder, saw Matt Wright and his wife, Bessie, Yong Collins and met Erin's husband, Matt.
I also saw, but didn't get a chance to talk to Doug Spence and Lee Greb, among others.
Just about when I was getting ready to leave, up walked Manny Mondragon, Cassie's husband, as he was finishing up a run as the two of them live close to Memorial Park. I had the chance to introduce him to Erin. He filled us in on Cassie's lost luggage in Okinawa.
The only downside to staying at the HARRA picnic for as long as I did is that I missed Jim and Karen Braden's party at their home in The Woodlands for a number of The Woodlands Running Club members. Word was that club VP (and Chevron Houston Marathon veteran) Tony Allison was the life of the party.
I'm sure I missed something somewhere. If I did, let me know!
1. Run The Woodlands 5K, Barbara Bush Elementary, The Woodlands, 8:00 a.m.
2. YMCA Trail Run 5K, Conroe, 9:15 a.m.
3. Egg and I, post-race breakfast with Waverly, The Woodlands
4. Write my weekly Conroe Courier running column at home.
5. Drop Waverly off at my Mom's so they could go to the Astros game together.
6. Attend the HARRA Picnic at Memorial Park from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
The YMCA Trail Run 5K was the first leg of the spring version of the Montgomery County Triple, but some people were thinking about the Quad - doing both 5Ks on Saturday morning.
Well, I'll be in Fargo, North Dakota (where it won't be as cool as I hoped it would be) this coming Saturday, but two 5Ks in one day sounds like my kind of fun.
Run The Woodlands 5K
At Run The Woodlands 5K, the first person that I see there, of course, is Bill Dwyer. He had already gone to Conroe to pick up the race packet for myself and Debbie Tripp, plus to see how long it was going to take to get there. (I heard him mention 18 minutes, but I also heard Monty Lynes telling him that it might take a bit longer.) Cathy Steele of Luke's Locker was there to run the show.
However, the event was going to be fun as two good friends were running the event -- John Yoder and Kim Hager. One of the friendliest guys in racing and his wife, Tinette, had made the trip north to The Woodlands and, well, I knew that Kim was going to run, but what surprised me was that - until a conflict developed in her schedule - she was going to do the Trail Run 5K! (I guess she probably wouldn't have got stuck in the mud at all.)
From my perspective, I wasn't going to try and go all out since I was running a second 5K in less than an hour, but also since I had only worked out once because of my foot. I didn't do too bad considering that as I posted a time of 30:31.64 (30:32, for the record.) The starting temperature was a humid 69 degrees.
Mile 1 -- 9:29.83 (I noticed that immediately the blue dots were now yellow.)
Mile 2 -- 10:05.37
Mile 3 -- 10:04.70
Last .1 -- 51.74
Before I made the first turn on to Alden Bridge, and while I was running a bit with Tim Vibrock of The Woodlands, I saw Holden Choi. He was out on a 7-mile run and couldn't race because he needed to be at a meeting in Houston for work! (I had a chance to see many of the RTW regulars that I haven't seen since January - Wayne Rutledge, Tom Hippe (who was testing out the Chi method of running), Danny Gilbreath from Houston, Jim Braden, Denise Van Kuiken and Lou Wilson, who really had a nice 5K as he finished in 27:48.)
John ran out about three-quarters of a mile to run in with his wife, who had just passed me, to bring her in under 30 minutes. (I jokingly told him after I finished that I thought he was coming out to run me in!) After chatting with a few folks, it was off to Conroe!
I got lucky and hit all of the lights pretty well. Bill and Debbie got "tripped" up by a few. The parking situation was a little chaotic at the Conroe YMCA; however, that meant that they had a great turnout - and good for them!
YMCA Trail Run 5K
Bill had warned me early that the course was pretty muddy and, as we got into the woods, that became pretty obvious. In those early stages of the race, I ran a little bit with Rick Cook's neighbor and fellow blogger, Karen Felicidiaro, before she got on her own pace (which was just a tad bit faster than mine.) I passed Seven Hills Running Club president Ken Johnson as well as Michael Kove before we started to hit the mud.
After the first mile, which was an unflattering 10:30-something, I could tell that the two back-to-back might not have been a great idea. But at that point, what was I going to do ... know that Bill and Ken were back there and let them catch me? Yeah, right. :)
At one point while we were going out, there was a small loop which brought the leaders back going the opposite direction. I saw former Caney Creek HS runner Andrew Perry on the course, but I didn't see him in the results.
My splits (they had half mile markers) were as follows:
Mile 0.5 -- 4:49.43
Mile 1.0 -- 5:44.72 (10:34.15)
Mile 1.5 -- 5:48.17 (16:22.32)
Mile 2.0 -- 6:18.59 (22:40.91; 11:06.76)
Mile 2.5 -- 5:48.10 (28:29.01)
Last .6 -- 5:57.82 (34:26.83)
In the last mile, I saw Bill Thompson of Conroe, who is a really nice guy. I enjoyed catching up with him a little bit since I believe that the last time that I saw him was at the Run Thru The Woods 5-Miler on Thanksgiving Day. With about a half of mile to go, I had to let him go on ahead of me.
After finishing the race and watching a number of runners that I knew cross the finish line, including Coach Bill himself, I introduced myself to Kent, who works for Run Wild Sports Timing. I saw Kent up in Oklahoma City on the Saturday night before the race, but hadn't met him before. We had a really good conversation and as I headed to the Pavillion to get the results for my Sunday column in the Courier, I met race director Roxanne Davis with the YMCA. We had a good conversation.
As I got to the Pavillion, I saw two of my really good friends from The Woodlands - Frank Halter and Pam Paling. Pam's a school teacher in The Woodlands so it gave me the opportunity to embarrass - in a positive way, of course - Waverly (and brag about her academic accomplishments.) Pam's always been an encourager to Waverly and I really appreciate that.
(Both she and Frank had a good day as Pam took first in her age group while Frank came in second. Winners of age group awards got a thick piece of wood with the name of the event and the award shaved into the wood. Really nice awards!)
I had a couple of people walk up and introduce themselves as they have indicated that they read my column in The Courier -- Jim Nichols from Conroe, whose son finished second overall and runs for Willis HS, and Ruth Fields of Montgomery, who was the second Masters finisher overall and who also writes for The Courier.
After that, I hung out with a number of friends from Seven Hills Running Club (which included Ken and Jan Parks), The Woodlands Running Club (including Carlos Ortegon, Stephen Smith and Buck Snyder) and the Luke's Locker Beat programs. I met one of The Woodlands' top runners, Lee Harlicker. (Bill introduced me to him.)
I joked that I'm not sure what it said that I knew all three age group winners in the 60-and-over division -- The Woodlands Running Club's Mike Mendeck, Luke's Locker Beat program participant Ronald Longtin and Seven Hills Running Club president Ken Johnson.
Mid-Afternoon
Waverly and I stopped at Egg and I in The Woodlands for a late breakfast. Since it was closer to noon, we didn't have to wait at all to get a seat. (This place is always busy. It is located off of Research Forest Drive and is on the north side of the road, just west of Interstate 45. It is on the way and back from Run The Woodlands 5K.) As we were waiting on our food, we saw Frank and Pam again.
After leaving, we got back to the house and I pounded out my column before taking Waverly to my Mom's so they could go to the Astros game together.
From there, I was headed to the HARRA Picnic in Memorial Park.
HARRA Picnic
The event had a pretty good turnout. When I got there, Erin Foley and Ben Harvie were working the check-in table. Behind the table, relaxing (of course), was Gerardo Mora. (Three fast people that I could only catch in my sleep!)
I spent a lot of time talking with Gerardo. A little bit into the conversation, Anna Helm came over as well as John Hedengren, his wife and children. John and Gerardo gave me updates on their "On The Run"-sponsored teams for this weekend's Beach To Bay Relay. (I can't tell anybody though!)
I had a chance to visit a bit with Steve Schroeder, saw Matt Wright and his wife, Bessie, Yong Collins and met Erin's husband, Matt.
I also saw, but didn't get a chance to talk to Doug Spence and Lee Greb, among others.
Just about when I was getting ready to leave, up walked Manny Mondragon, Cassie's husband, as he was finishing up a run as the two of them live close to Memorial Park. I had the chance to introduce him to Erin. He filled us in on Cassie's lost luggage in Okinawa.
The only downside to staying at the HARRA picnic for as long as I did is that I missed Jim and Karen Braden's party at their home in The Woodlands for a number of The Woodlands Running Club members. Word was that club VP (and Chevron Houston Marathon veteran) Tony Allison was the life of the party.
I'm sure I missed something somewhere. If I did, let me know!
posted by WalkSports.com | 11:55 PM
1 Comments:
That was one fun filled Saturday for you. Glad I was a small part of that.
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