Green 6.2

It doesn't make sense to me, but I finished this morning's Green 6.2 a few seconds faster than I finished Rodeo Run two months ago.

The splits:
Mile 1 -- 10:06
Mile 2 -- 10:34
Mile 3 -- 10:40
Mile 4 -- 10:43
Mile 5 -- 10:50
Mile 6 -- 10:10
Last .14 -- 1.21
Elapsed 10K time -- 1:04:24, per Garmin Forerunner 110

We got a dose of warm weather, closer to what you'd expect in Houston in late April. My clothing was a little damp at the end, but obviously the humidity didn't drag me down too much.

If I had to guess, I'd say that the race course layout helped by being twisty. There were very few points where the view ahead was an intimidating length of pavement that stretched out our line of sight to the horizon. From the satellite image of my Garmin data I count 22 turns in 10 kilometers, which may be the highest frequency of turns I've ever seen in a one lap road race. At the final U-turn, I caught up with a lady with "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" on the back of her shirt, so of course I was humming the Monty Python tune through the finish line.

Overall this event seemed well-organized and finishers collected both a tech shirt and a medal -- which is bound for my next Christmas tree with all the others.

Thoughts moving forward after the attack on the Boston Marathon

• My heart has ached for everyone affected by the recent bombings at the Boston Marathon. We don't know each other, but we're united in our mutual experiences and respect for what it takes to complete a 26.2-mile course, and in appreciation for all the friends, family members, and volunteers that make these events possible. As soon as I got home Monday afternoon, I laced up the Asics and plodded out four miles in a Boston T-shirt. 
• Be wary of fraudulent fundraisers that will inevitably spring up in the wake of tragedy. The Boston community has more than enough resources to handle the immediate needs of people. Be patient -- HARRA through the Road Runners Club of America are in contact with the Boston Marathon about this exact topic and there will be a legitimate channel for supporting healing in their community. There's no need to rush financial contributions -- the bombing survivors will have needs well beyond the days when these headlines recede.
• To those responsible for the bombing: Enjoy your waning hours of freedom; you will be caught. You've just kicked over a hornets' nest populated by lots and lots and lots of people for whom DNF is the most abhorrent thing, ever. If this is a matchup between crazy levels, you lose.

Bellaire Trolley Run 5K

Slacking again -- I see that I haven't blogged since Rodeo Run. Of course, that's probably because I haven't done much worth blogging about in the past couple of months. This morning, I finally got my butt out to a race again. I've seen the Bellaire Trolley Run on the HARRA calendar for years now, and I finally decided to go try it.

The course starts in front of Bellaire's city hall, then heads north on South Rice to Bellaire Boulevard where runners run around the eponymous trolley car before heading back south again. After a looping around Bellaire High School, the course returns north to finish back at city hall. Small community race on a flat, landmark boulevard with a nice after-party spread -- it sounds like a recipe similar to the Heights Fun Run, and I can now recommend it as a good Houston-area spring 5K.

My personal run went pretty well, especially considering that I haven't been putting in a bunch of miles this spring:

Mile 1 - 9:18
Mile 2 - 9:42
Mile 3 - 9:42
Last .16 - 1:27
Elapsed 5K time - 30:10, per Garmin Forerunner 110

I'm sure other runners can relate to the mind game of picking "rabbits" in front of them to help pull themselves forward. My rabbit in the first mile was a guy wearing a shirt with "1948 MODEL / STILL RUNS" printed on the back. I wish I was able to stick with him, particularly since I ended up falling just short of breaking 30 minutes.

I ended up glad I hung around the after-party. After sampling stuff from Jerry Built Homegrown Burgers, Chik-Fil-A, Cici's Pizza, and Berryhill, I ended up walking back to my car with a restaurant gift certificate that more than paid off my race entry fee. Bonus!

Oh, and I promise: The next race report won't be more than two months from now.