All I need is a track in the background

[My race overview as I wrote it in the RunTex forum]

The race in Buda has held a special place in my heart, and sometimes I'd wonder why, but yesterday I was reminded...

• Watching the sun rise over the farms and country land
  
• Enthusiastic high school volunteers at all the water stops
  
• Cheering on the faster and slower runners on the other side of the street
  
• The mooing encouragement from the Buda Bovines
  
• The predictable headwind and uphill that's twice as bad as you remember it
  
• A stadium full of people to cheer you on in your final stretch
  
• My favorite finisher's medal... and a fabulous finisher's shirt
  
• A comfortable finishing area where you can easily watch and cheer for the final finishers
  
• The confidence I have upon finishing that I can achieve my goals at Motorola
  

Most importantly...

Having a race director who puts so much effort into pulling off a great race and finds the time to personally answer runner's questions in the RunTex forum.

Scary, you rock!!!

Comet

Still, it would have been exciting to see killer bees, clones or snowflakes. There's always next year!


[ Previous night's preparations ]

I went to sleep around 11:30 PM since I had woken up just 13 hours earlier. I woke up twice thanks to all my pre-race hydrating and the first time, my housemates were still awake! The third time I woke up a few minutes before my alarm, so I spent the extra minutes listening to good tunes on the radio. Breakfast was a Powerbar. Shower. Grabbed everything except the bottle of water for my Endurox. Next time I will try not to disguise it as an empty Gatorade bottle. I drove down to Buda, happy knowing I had my race number and my GU this year. Since it was 6:50 when I hit Buda, I happily continued my tradition of stopping at the Buda HEB for a bag of Jelly Bellies. I even bought a box of plastic baggies to keep them in.

At the race, even though it was cold, it just didn't seem that cold. I easily resisted the urge to stay cozy and left my material comforts (like my Mizuno gloves and warm Mizuno hat) in the car. I sunscreened my face since I wasn't wearing a hat or sunglasses. I should have sunscreened everywhere. (My knee scar is now five exciting colors thanks to the sun.)

Hit the bathrooms. Visited the warm gym. I saw my DC-coworker buddy Brian. I saw my college buddy Mandy, who I hadn't seen since Motorola. A year ago she gave me an extra GU at this race as I was in an energy gel panic. This year, it would have been a non-issue as there were ClifShot people pre-race and at two different points during the race. It was still early, so I started running warmup laps around the track. Eventually I ran by my marathon training buddies and we walked around a bit. I told them how I was not going to be suckered into starting with them and hanging on with the group when they sped up. This was just an easy training run. I'd only run it easy at 10 minute miles. Being the paranoid runner that I am, I hit the bathroom again. Well, what would it hurt to stand with my buddies at the start? As we waited, we were repeatedly warned not to pee between miles 4 and 5. (The whole crowd. Thankfully they didn't single us five ladies out.) There were fireworks during the national anthem which was sung by one of the male high school students.

The race started! From the back, it was cool to see the fastest runners taking off down the track. We were running easy, so I stayed with them. We took a new quick loop through a neighborhood. We saw Coach Barry on his bicycle with two other cyclists. I glanced at my heart rate monitor and laughed when it read 203. At the exact same water stop as last year, the woman in front of me dropped a ton of water out of her cup. But this time she turned and apologized and it wasn't even necessary because not a drop got on me. Phew!

At the 5K point, I looked at my watch. I think it was at 27 minutes. I have yet to run a sub-30 5K race! There were two huge construction trucks honking their horns for us. That was neat. At mile 4, we mysteriously all had the sudden need to pee on the nearest lawn. We didn't, but we joked that it'd be fun to synchronously moon them. Another mile passed, and I started considering breaking off with the group and letting them run ahead. I saw Chris from our RunTex Gateway group and as I passed him up, I told him my friends were dragging me along faster than I'd like and so I'd see him later in the race. He replied with a "Yeah! At the finish line!"

We ran past fields with some Buda Bovines, a few even mooed us along. I remembered that I had agreed to run a mile for my roommate, so mile 7 was it. In his honor, I broke out the bag of Jelly Bellies. (His diet hasn't allowed him any candy or normal food in months.) It felt like a relay race as we handed off the bag from runner to runner. Returning to the main highway, we were greeted by bagpipes. Shortly after turning onto the road, we saw Gilbert running in the other direction. We cheered like mad for him and in return, he smiled and gave us a thumbs up.

At the portapotty stop, two in our group had to stop for a bit, but not to use them. The rest of us walked slowly through the ClifShot and water stop. I've only had the Raspberry flavor and they happened to have Vanilla, so I figured I may as well try it. Vanilla GU reminds me of ice cream, but Vanilla ClifShots remind me of marshmallows! We gather the group back together and I point out a few triathletes running past us. Turning left at the gas station, Jenn had to stop and use the portapotty. She was fast! and speaking of fast, the faster runners were again running by us. We saw triathlete Jay and cheered for him. Finally, we had to turn right into a neighborhood and say our good-byes to the inspirational fast runners. As we were making the turn, I thought I spotted a familiar looking runner. I kept running, with my head turned all the way around straining to get another look. When she emerged from behind the bush between us, I recognized Janis from our RunTex Gateway group. I yelled out a cheer for her and she yelled back. Janis impressively placed first in our age group!

It was a gorgeous, cloudless bright blue sunny day. Race Director Scott Cary did a fantastic job of avoiding the 12 degree temperatures and snow. (as well as the attack of the clones and killer bees!) Running through the neighborhoods, there were residents outside their homes watching us. Some of the younger ones stood at the ends of their driveway in amazement. We waved and occassionally yelled "We love Buda!" Jenn and I ran together as our buddies ran at a slower pace. I was feeling a little too warm in my dark black and red Mizuno jacket, so I took it off and tied it around my waist. Much better! A red convertible with two young ladies in it drove by honking for the runners. "Hey look! It's the two seniors who didn't volunteer!"

At last, we arrived at the Bubble Stop. We were offered Krispy Kreme donuts, but I turned them down. (Sadly I missed them post-race, too.) I took some GU and water and... bubble gum? Of course I'll have a... blue one! Next year, I think I'll pass on that as the gum made me feel thirsty and I couldn't toss it until I saw a trash can back at the gas station. At the 20K point, I noticed we were under 2 hours. I told Jenn "wouldn't it be cool to finish in under 3 hours?" She reminded me that our first 10K had some fast miles, and then I realized we'd be running the last 10K with some incredible wind and a gradual uphill.

Amanda caught up with us just before mile 13, and the two of us compared tongues. I had the infamous blue tongue and she donned a bright pink tongue. When we hit the half marathon point, I saw that my watch said 2:05. In amazement, I realized (loud enough for all to hear) "I could run a marathon in 4:10?" "You sure could." came a voice just behind us. Coach Barry passed us by on his bike.

On the long road back, we fought the oncoming wind and became more focused on continuing our pace. However, our increased concentration did not stop me from cheering on the walkers on the other side of the street. Eventually Jenn took off just a little faster, and Amanda and I were separated as well. This happened just before we got to the final big hill. I continued cheering (and thanking) the supporters, the other runners and Jenn who was just ahead of me. Perhaps I was having a 25K flashback when I yelled "I love hills!" One of the supporters laughed and said "Well then you're going to love the next hill." We cruised up past the walkers. I couldn't believe my eyes as I actually passed up my typically speedy coworker Brian who was walking. I later found out he had to walk the entire last 10K.

Just when I looked up with the expectation of seeing the water stop at the top of the hill, I realized I wasn't even halfway up the hill yet. I think Scary lengthened the road while we were off running the neighborhoods. I took one last Powerade and continued on. Since the two miles before that, I had realized it was too late for an energy gel, but a couple Jelly Bellies would have come in real handy. Unfortunately they were zipped up in my tied up jacket and although I managed to do some safety pin rearranging with my bib, I dared not dig around for my precious beans.

I turned the corner barely able to see Jenn, and just kept putting one foot in front of the other. The sun and wind did not let up. I kept looking at my watch and looking out for the 18 mile marker. I stopped to step out of my jacket, and ran like a wild woman for the mile 18 pictures. I tried to continue running past the photographer (who I think was Elizabeth herself) as she gave me a thumbs up. I was sure I could beat 3:00... couldn't I? It would be close. As I passed the track and turned in, there were lots of people, so I cheered and hollered. Many of the people cheered or laughed in response, and a dog even howled his support. As I entered the stadium and turned the corner to go onto the track, I could hear various people shouting "Julia!" (It is good to have friends who finish well before you.) The track was crowded. I weaved in and out of people, yelling, waving my arms in the air and smiling at some of the onlookers. I remembered how last year I took the last quarter mile far too hard and so I didn't do an all out sprint to the finish line. I heard Evil announce Jenn's name as I was 100M from the finish line. As I rounded the bend, there were no finishers in front of me, and I was thrilled to see the gun time not yet at 3:00. Wow what a race! Jenn and I hugged, got our medals, finisher shirts and walked around to the side to watch our buddies finish. I saw quite a few familiar faces finish. One was Henry, a guy I used to work with during an internship years and years ago. I hadn't seen him since Motorola. All his daughters were running in the race as well.

I had three new or renewed injuries. My whiny left quad was in a little pain, so I stopped by the medical tent to get a baggie of ice (which I completely forgot to use when I got to my car). Thankfully my leg felt as good as new by Tuesday morning. My pinky toe hurt a ton. I think it's bruised (and still hurting when I walk). I wore one week new shoes, brand new shorts, brand new sports bra, a newish top, and a heart rate monitor which I'd never used for a long distance run. At least I knew my Motive Bison Stampede socks wouldn't fail me! Is anyone suprised I got a little chafing? Thanks to BodyGlide, it was limited to one little place. Otherwise, I felt completely comfortable during my run, so they are all approved for Motorola. (Even though the irongirl shorts don't have pockets.)

Just like the 25K, this race was by far the fastest I'd run any race. Last year I was 40 out of 51 (78%) in my age group. Definitely a back-of-the-pack penguin runner. What still amazes me now is that I have moved up to the middle of the pack. I finished 36th out of 82 (44%) in my age group. So much for my early intentions of making this an easy training run. Even more impressive is that my training buddies, Jenn, Amanda, Jennifer and Andrea all finished strong and this was their first 30K race! Amanda also showed a display of fun throughout her finish... as she should have. It was her birthday, and I think she was happy that we didn't make her run 1K more to grow on.

Year Place Name            Age Chip Time  Gun Time    Diff        Pace
2003 558   Julia Weatherby 26  2:57:51.4  2:58:58.9   1:07.5    9:34/M
2002 770   Julia Weatherby 25  3:35:32.4  3:36:13.4   0:41.0   11:35/M

[ 2002 RunTex 30K Race Report ]

Last year I used to think the faster runners didn't have as much fun as I did running at my own pace. This year I learned I could run fast and still have a blast! I loved my race picture last year and would proudly show people that I was still smiling at mile 18. They even showed it at the Distance Challenge banquet slideshow. This year I wanted it to be even better! (I hope Kreutz Photography will not mind if I let) You be the judge...