Fila Relays

Friday's are usually rest days, but we decided to support Gilbert and join a number of Gazelles at the Fila Relays. We all arrive at start line asking, "what were we thinking," but it turned out to be a fun night. I ran with Jan, Brad, and Jay and we ran in the Odds and Ends division. The race was one 2.44 mile loop around the north part of Zilker park and then end up on Barton Springs back to the start line. We usually run most of this course for our 2000 repeats so it was very familiar. The race was supposed to start at 6:30, but due to some traffic glitches it went off about 20 minutes late. Jan went off first followed by Jay, then Brad, and I ran the anchor. I kind of hung out and then started a brief warmup by jogging on the first part of the course and then in the grass of the fields. I did some drills and was sweating pretty good. Some people I know kept coming up and asking me how did you do when I hadn't even started.

I took the handoff and just ran hard. I wanted to catch a couple of Gazelle teams along the way. The first thing I noticed was my throat got dry really fast. I guess I am not used to afternoon running. I passed up the first water station just to keep going. I ran the first mile, mostly flat in 6:27. I hit the hilly section and slowed down to 6:54 and once I hit the crest on Barton Springs, I ran the last section at 6:06 pace. I was really feeling good through the whole run although I had to work a bit on the hills. I ended up with a 15:42 for the leg. My Garmin said 2.38 miles and a 6:35 pace.

Once I crossed I grabbed some water and got in the food line. I was totally starving and the food from Taco Deli hit the spot.

Stats - 3.57 miles
AHR - 165
MHR - 173