Sprint for Life 5K

Today I ran a 5K on the streets around the Texas Medical Center. The course route was basically triangular, starting in front of St. Luke's, going past the V.A. Hospital and Ben Taub General, and finishing at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. If you're going to be unfortunate enough to experience a medical emergency during a race, I suppose this is where you should have it. :D

With an overnight temp of 73F and humidity around 80-something percent, this was what I consider our first taste of summer. My original intention was to slow down accordingly and sustain a pace in the nine-minute-or-so range, but as the stats from my Garmin show, I wasn't very successful:

Mile 1: 8:38
Mile 2: 10:07
Mile 3: 10:17
Last .17: 1:43

I was forced to take a walk break in mile 2 to recover my breathing. After hitting the finish chute, I jogged back to the last turn and cheered my sister and brother-in-law to their finish. I didn't threaten my PR today, but I realistically don't expect to do that again until the fall. I did have a great time with my brother-in-law and sister, who live within walking distance of the finish line and invited me to come join them today. M.D. Anderson and their sponsors did a nice job with the after-race party -- live band, breakfast tacos, bagels, and beer muffins. (I didn't know there was such a thing as a beer muffin until today!)

It was a bit risky to take relatively-untested shoes out on a race, but the Saucony Trigon 4 Guide turned out to feel pretty good. There's not as much toebox room as the Phoenix and they are a bit heavier -- about two ounces per shoe. Hopefully the extra weight will deliver more support and cushioning in longer runs.

Event: Sprint for Life 5K Run/Walk
Location: Texas Medical Center, Houston
Result: 30:51
Benefis: Blanton-Davis Ovarian Cancer Research Program