Toughest 10k Kemah

Buttcrack of dawn at the Kemah Boardwalk

I have been down. I have been injured. I have been contemplating not running any more and then this happens. I headed to the Galveston Bay, more specifically Kemah to run the Toughest 10k. Oh my what a morning. It had been raining in Houston darn near all week and this dawn was a BEAUTIFUL way to break all that grey. There is just something very magical about listening to the water, feeling the salted breeze hug you as you watch the dawn of another gift of a day. Even more so magical when you are about to put your toes on the line and release everything you've got to run up and down a bridge 4 times with nearly 2000 other runners.

Now you know I am not one to repeat races often. There are a few I do annually just because there are no other races (August races I am looking at you) to do that time of year but there is something to be said for coming back to a race that has challenged you in the past. I found the series when I was not selected in the lottery for the Houston Aramco Half Marathon and thinking I was ready to run a half, I thought the By the Bay half would be a good fit for me. Well, runners logic also told me that I should not just do the last race in the series, I had to do all three. The first year I ran the The Bridge Series, I was a total nube! I had been racing maybe 2 5k's a month and the occasional 10k for almost a year. "Hill work" wasn't even part of my vocabulary. That race morning I saw the bridge and thought WTF have I done, this is really going to be tough, they didn't not lie when naming this race. It was the most difficult thing I had done running so far. I lost my shit half way up the first pass. I struggled to run up the second. The third pass I walked, by the fourth time across the bridge, I was done, forget it. Coming off the bridge, less than a mile to go, someone said "c'mon Mrs. Wallace you can do it!" sometimes when running that is enough. I shuffled to the finish and crossed in 1:20. Honestly that's really not that bad of a race time but there was something else inside me that nagged at me, that somehow I could have done it better. 

Startline arch 

Today I had something to prove, not to anyone else but just to me. This year, I started out in the middle and waited for the road to thin out a bit before was going to go for it. Only it was really crowded this year. I ran on to the first mile, still waiting for it to thin out. Made the u-turn at the end of the street and headed to the first water station where it was crowded and things sort of thinned a little (water stations are always the best place to lose those running around you who are distracting) but once on the bridge and people started walking up the incline it became clear running. The best was at the top of each pass of the bridge the breeze was cool and really did a lot for keeping the days' heat a bay. I think the best is just how fantastic it felt to be running again after the past two tough weeks I had been having. There is really something powerful that comes with running. On my last 3 minutes uphill on my last pass over the bridge I was even able to push it a bit. I hit the downhill and started passing people. One by one to the finish line. This year I crossed in 1:16:38 not a course record by any means but that's almost a full minute per mile improvement on my part and over "hills" no less.

So now here's the reasons to do this race. On the streets leading up to the bridge, on the undersides of the bridge and along the streets leading back to the finish line are the most AMAZING, cheerful, loud and encouraging group of people you could ever want to have cheering a race on. Not just people cheering on those they know but actually reading the names on people's bibs and shouting out encouragement to everyone who passed them. From the front of the pack to the back of the back. Most races only announce the winners as they cross the finish but at RAS races all finishers get to hear their names announced. Another reason to run this series is the medals. They are GREAT and among Houston races they can't be beat for style and quality. This years 3 races fit together to make one large medal and then there is a fourth for doing all 3 races. The party at the finish is also another reason to sign up. Tons of food, fantastic music (Other Brother was dj'ing), and runners who are in the best of moods.

What is even better than running a good race? Is that it is motivating me to get back on track. I actually went out this morning for my scheduled training run. I had thought I made it over the bridge unscathed, that was until my first walk break this morning and my calves started screaming at me. Oh well, they had better get use to it again.