I decided that I would keep going, but that I would be very selective in spacing races out so that I still had time to race as much as I like to.
I’ve run 60 or more races each of the last four years, including 63 in 2015 when I know that I announced 37.
As I mentioned in my last writing, I still get asked to announce a lot and I’m grateful for that. It says that people see value in what I do and that they trust me to represent their race well.
I had planned this week as one that I would get away and see some minor league baseball parks.
I secured a really good fare ($221.96) from Southwest to go into Midway early Friday morning and come home late Sunday night.
During the trip, I would see three new minor league parks and run a race on Saturday and Sunday.
The first rendition of the trip would put me in Fort Wayne, South Bend and then one of the independent teams near Chicago, but Saturday was the University of Notre Dame’s graduation and hotel rates were – as you can imagine – through the roof.
I settled, though, on a trifecta of ballparks in Indianapolis, Peoria and Joliet, but as I started to look at the forecast, rain had creeped into the forecast definitely for Sunday but also a possibility for Saturday.
I looked at going to Evansville, Indiana, which hosts an independent minor league team for Saturday night’s contest, but that put a five-hour drive back to Chicago.
Many different combinations where considered, including going west to Clinton or Burlington, Iowa on Friday and then working back east, but rain was still a factor.
And I didn’t want to be waiting on the last flight out of Midway back to Houston Hobby and it being delayed.
So the vision for this weekend that I had in mind, included at least two college baseball games at parks I haven’t been to and at least three 5K’s and possibly a fourth.
And maybe even a game or two at the University of Texas’ softball field for one of the 16 NCAA Division I regionals that were being held around the country.
I started my work day a little early on Thursday so I could head west and make Thursday evening’s game in San Marcos between the University of Texas-Arlington Mavericks and the Texas State Bobcats.
It was a 6 p.m. start that took an inordinately long time to get there as there was construction on Highway 21 heading south out of Bastrop and then – Thursday night was Commencement at Texas State University.
Needless to say, I parked on the other side of the football stadium, made the long walk back to the baseball stadium and got inside for the middle of the second inning.
Nice ballpark, but nothing magical. Completely turf field.
UTA won the contest, denying Texas State the opportunity to win the Southland Conference title until the following night.
I stayed until about the eighth inning and then it was time to head up the road to my hotel in Pflugerville, which I was pretty proud to find a nice, new Marriott Courtyard for the lowest rate in the Austin area for three days.
I worked from my hotel room all day Friday and then headed out at about 4 p.m. to see the second game of a doubleheader between Oklahoma and Texas at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
With the threat of thunderstorms on Saturday, they turned the season-ending date for the Longhorns to Friday with games at 1 and 6:30 p.m.
I bought my ticket at about 4:45 p.m. and asked the ticket agent about where I could get a bite to eat outside the ballpark. She said that there was a Denny’s close by (never saw it, but not what I was looking for) and that there were some more places to eat about a mile away.
To me, no big deal. I run a mile. Walking one there and back is no big deal, thank goodness.
I had a great seat – second row – to see my first game at Disch-Falk, a venerable ball park that could easily pass today for a quality Class A or AA minor league stadium.
Texas ended up winning their last game of the season to finish 27-27 as they finish ninth in the Big 12 and out of the conference tournament. Shocking, really.
With the threat of rain on Saturday, I went back to my hotel and planned for options for the next date.
My two target races were ones in Gatesville (at 8:15 a.m.) and Leander (at 11 a.m.), but since I had to go north on Interstate 35 to get to Highway 36 to go to Gatesville, I had options on races in Temple, Salado and Belton.
Officially, the races were the Cen-Tex Crime Stoppers Donut Dash 5K in Gatesville and the Old Towne 5K in Leander.
As I drove, though, it was clear that the weather was going to hold.
I left the hotel around 5:30 a.m., got to Gatesville at about 7 a.m., waited a little bit for some weather to pass before I finally signed up and by around 8:10 a.m. the 5K race began.
This one got out of hand quick!
We went straight down a decline, which bore to the left and then back to the right before a right on College St. and then back north on S. 7th St. Both of those streets were inclines, which put me in oxygen debt within the first four minutes of the race on a humid day.
Up to Leon Street, we turned left and went west past the County Courthouse before making a right and then a quick left to get out on Main Street.
Gatesville Parks and Recreation, in conjunction with the Police Department, had this stretch well-protected. After crossing the Leon River Bridge, we had a large incline that took us to Levita Road where we’d make a left and have a sharp downhill back to Leon St.
In that area, a young man was running with his dog and as a couple of loose dogs on the right-hand side of street started to bark so I stayed as close to him as possible – just in case.
We made a left onto Leon Street, which would send us east until we made two right-hand turns and a left to take us to the finish.
In that stretch, we had one final uphill, passed the County Courthouse again and then had a straight shot before the last half of a mile.
As I made that right-hand turn off of Leon onto 10th Street, I the young man with his dog and another gentleman close by. I passed them both and then after making the final right-hand turn onto Bridge St., I started to race and opened up a gap enough to beat them both.
It was good to put on a strong effort to the finish.
Finished in 31:15. That didn’t surprise me too much given the semi-humid conditions and the hilly course, but I later charted it out through mapmyrun.com and it seemed to be 3.2 miles.
Which would have been a 9:46 pace – or 30:21.
I was eighth overall, fifth male and second in my age group. I told the organizer and a participant that I’d likely place, given the turnout, but that I was off to Leander and to give my award to a youngster who helped out.
I made good time heading south to Leander. For an 11 a.m. start, I think I pulled in and parked at about 10:05 a.m.
Race day registration was taking place in front of the Chamber of Commerce and I was prepared with cash, but I didn’t have the exact change. I was told that I could leave a credit card number to be charged – and naturally, I declined.
I went back to my car to see if perhaps I missed a couple of ones to make up $10, but I hadn’t.
As I walked back, I had resolved that I didn’t have to run the race. However, when I got back, they were able to make change. I was appreciative.
The race started a block or two away from the Chamber of Commerce building and when I got there, the timer was none other than Brad Davison. I last saw Brad a month or so ago at the Run The Ramps 5K in College Station.
We discussed a few logistical items from that race. (It is always good to learn and test what you know – or don’t know -- from an event production standpoint.)
The biggest question of the latter part of the morning was: Would we get rained on (as the clouds were threatening)?
After some announcements that few, if any, people could really hear, we were off.
We went straight two blocks and then made a right, heading west.
In that stretch, we ran in between tents from vendors that were part of Leander’s Old Town Festival on Saturday. Fun, different way to start a race, for sure!
And doable with just 93 timed finishers.
The course was shaped like a saw (to the left) getting ready to cut through a glass at the tip of the blade.
So basically, two long stretches – one out and another back – with a small loop in between.
Traffic control was reduced just two intersections that needed to be monitored by Leander police.
Mapmyrun.com had the course at 3.17 miles so the pace here was 9:43 per mile- to follow up the 9:46 pace earlier in the morning.
I chit-chatted with a few athletes that had GPS devices on their wrists to see what they had and they had 3.12, 3.13 and 3.18, so I could take the mapmyrun.com distance fairly conservatively.
Stopped for breakfast/lunch at 1431 Café in Cedar Park on the way back to my hotel in Pflguerville.
It was one of those local restaurants that had lots of cars outside so you figured that all of the area couldn’t consider it to be bad. And it was pretty good.
The potatoes with the chorizo omelet were a little bland, but run through the sauce from the chorizo inside the egg … it was OK!
Instead of going to the NCAA Division I softball regional at the University of Texas, located just right next to Disch-Falk Field, I slept some in the afternoon, basically put down a book cover-to-cover and got ready for Sunday.
On Friday evening, I went ahead and pulled the trigger on registering online for Sunday’s Deutschen Fest 5K in Pflugerville.
Three races, three new cities it would be.
With an 8 a.m. start, and having stayed less than about three miles from the race start, I got on-site and parked a little after 7 a.m. When I picked up my packet, I was wearing one of my Liberty University running shirts and the young man who assigned the bib number to my record in the database said that a friend of his graduated there as well. (Turned out being in 2017 – the same year my daughter did.)
This race is run on a certified course and total distance, it was spot on. Am thinking the first mile marker might have been a bit sooner than what it should have been.
The course showcases Pflugerville’s trail system and kept the race off of the streets for most of the first two miles.
Traffic control, police officers and volunteers were all great.
It was even more humid than it was the day before in Leander. I was soaked when the race was over.
I ran 30:57.10. Ugh. The first mile was 8:55, the second 10:48 and the last 1.1 was 11:13. If there was a three-mile marker, I never saw it.
First race this year that I had to slow down due to the excessive humidity.
Now, from the things that I do for races, I was livid.
1.) The voice was about themselves. They were trying to be funny. I think you can be upbeat, positive naturally without trying to get a laugh.
2.) Music was way too loud at 7:30 a.m. – a half hour before the start of the race. I went back to my car and worked on some of this race report.
3.) As I was at the start at around 7:50 a.m., there were maybe 15-20 people on the start side of the start/finish line – and there were eventually 485 timed finishers.
4.) Up until 7:54 a.m., Camp Gladiator was leading a warm-up – and didn’t stop talking. Big mistake. (You just never let any group doing a pre-race warm-up go within 10 minutes of the start of the race.)
5.) So within six minutes, the voice rushed to get people on the other side of the start – and some crossed the start line from the front instead of going around. (It wasn’t a fast field as the winner took the crown in 18:35, but still.)
6.) I’m tired of hearing Leanne Rimes sing the National Anthem on a recording. (If you don't have somebody singing it in person or as a crowd together, just don't do and start the race on-time.)
7.) The voice made reference to having forgot an air horn. Why even admit that audibly? Just state that our race will start with a 10-second countdown and “Go!”. Don’t make yourself look like you’re either winging it or not prepared.
And, finally, out on the trail, past mile one, but before mile two, I mixed it up with three people pushing strollers that were blocking a four-person wide trail.
I was glad to leave the race site, get a quick bite to eat, go back to the hotel and shower and head home (after learning that I couldn’t buy a ticket online for the UH and Texas softball game at 3:30 p.m. that afternoon).
All in all, a good trip that was an alternative to my out-of-state venture.
