Saturday, April 4th: Bike Tour
Saturday was bike tour day. David and Brett got up at the crack of dawn and headed out. The tour started at 7:00 a.m. They signed up for the 33-mile race, but they got a little more than they bargained for. First of all, it was windy. So windy, in fact, that when we woke up on Saturday morning, we couldn’t determine if we were hearing the wind or thunder. David predicted that they would finish by 9:00 a.m. or earlier. My parents, sister and I left the house around 8:00 a.m. to watch them finish. We stood in the wind waiting for them to finish. Nine o’clock came and went. Nine-fifteen came and went. People who were obviously not in as good of shape as the guys were finishing. Multiple tandem bikes finished. Still no sign of the boys. I hate this about myself, but I am a worst-case scenario person. My mind immediately goes to the bad place—one of them is hurt out on the course and they have no way to contact us. Around 9:30 a.m., they came over the hill to the finish line. Both the boys and the bikes were intact. They just made a wrong turn that turned a 33-mile bike ride into a 40-mile one. Despite the complaints about the course markings, I think they had a good time.
Sunday, April 5th: 5K and 10K Races
Sunday was a running day. David and I ran the 10K, and my sis ran the 5K. It was also a cold and windy day. The high temperature was below fifty degrees, and the winds gusted up to 40 miles per hour. The race did not start until 2:00 p.m., which is unusual. The late start made it difficult to decide what to eat and when to eat it. We settled on a late breakfast, and I had a banana about an hour before the race. The weather created another obstacle – deciding what to wear. I finally decided on tights, a sleeveless shirt, a long-sleeve shirt and gloves. I am definitely still learning how to dress for different weather conditions, because I got hot during the race.
The start line was well marked with minute-per-mile predictions. I decided to line up between the 8-minute-per-mile and the 9-minute-per-mile groups. Once we were packed in tightly, several of the people around we were talking about finishing in around an hour. My goal was to finish around the 50-minute mark, so this was discouraging. I spent a good three minutes after the start weaving around people. David has quit lining up according to the predicted times and just lines up near the front of the pack. In other words, he lets faster people weave around him, rather than the other way around. I like to follow the rules, so this approach is difficult for me. However, at some point I need to realize that no one else is following the rules and it is slowing me down. I don’t intend to line up at the front like David does, but maybe I will move up a little closer next time.
Despite the wind, we all had a good race. My sister, who has been in Europe for the last two weeks, finished the 5K with a time of 30:49. David, who initially told me that he ran a 38:00, actually finished with a time of 48:02. I knew he was fast, but I was looking to test him for performance-enhancing drugs if he had actually improved his PR by ten minutes! I wanted to beat my PR of 50:51, but I finished with a time of 51:29. I think I have to learn to start these short races (and even half marathons) a little faster so I don’t have to kill myself to make up time at the end of the race. Despite my disappointment in not setting a PR, I thought I had a good race for the conditions (wind and hills) on the course.
We’ll be back next year to run/ride (I may even try the bike, who knows?) the Redbud Classic again, only we’ll hope for better weather.
Great job, guys! That's a great pic of David on the bike! Glad you had fun. Windy weather just seems to follow you wherever you race!
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