Zilker Relays and a different Saturday

In the never-ending series of "firsts" for me, I ran in the Zilker Relays last night with Amy, Jane, and Val...and lots of other T3 folks but the four of us were a team - JV. (Name origin...well, if you take the first letters of our first names you can spell J-A-V-E which sounds like JV. We weren't feeling that creative when we had to sign up!) I was excited to do this even though I don't love to race - especially not the short stuff. A rainstorm added to the excitement of the event...as well as the general energy that comes when you have a bunch of people racing.
"Racing" is a term I use rather loosely. There were certainly people out there to break records - either their own or someone else's - and there were those of us who wanted to do our best but didn't have any real goals in mind. That was me. Truth be told, having never done something like this before, I had no idea what I would be capable of. It's one thing to do a timed mile or mile repeats on a track. It's another thing to do a 5K after swimming and running. It's another thing entirely to run a 1/2 marathon. Or to run a 10K or 13.1 miles or 26.2 miles at the end of a triathlon. I'd never gone out and run 2.45 miles for time...with a couple of hills in there.
This late summer of training has been one long experiment for me. And it's been sort of fun. And sort of disappointing at times. And difficult. And encouraging. And overall pretty energizing, even when I've had a less than great practice or long run or long ride. I will forever be cursed with being an eternal optimist, believing that someday I just might be faster or stronger or something.
And last night proved that to me. I was the slowest one on our team - but actually there were only 50 seconds difference between me and our fastest runner (Val) so we were pretty darn close all things said and done. My first instinct was to say "boo", I hate being the slowest...although that caboose t-shirt that Nancy gave me a couple of weeks ago seemed very fitting! But when I took a step back, like I often need to do when I move into self-critical mode, I thought, "Yes, you were the slowest but did you EVER in your life think you'd be capable of running an 8 minute mile for 2.45 miles?" The answer is that up until last winter I never thought I'd be able to go sub-9. Then I eventually shocked myself and ran a sub-8 mile one day at track. But I've never imagined running an 8 minute mile for any length of time in a "race" of any sort. So, I'm encouraged...and feeling better about being the back of a fast pack of ladies. And I'll just keep running to catch up with Jane, Amy, and Val...great teammates, by the way! Way to go JV (#5 out of 17 in the Open Women's Division)...I think we all surprised ourselves just a little bit.
So...that's sometimes what triathletes do on a Friday night! We run...and then enjoy post-race activities. And then go to bed early. But it was nice to go to bed knowing that I just had a little run in the morning as opposed to a long bike ride or even a long run. I took a break from the bike today since it's a low mileage week for us Conroe folks and since I'm supposed to give myself a break from a long ride every now and then before CDA training starts again. Haven't been great about following that pattern but I did today. And it meant I got to run, soak in Barton Springs, and then have breakfast with Kimberly. What a treat! It had been WAY too long since she and I had spent time together - evidenced by a 2+ hour breakfast. And it was really nice to have the flexibility to do that.
I do love my routine, but I also like to be able to shake it up a little now and then... (And the trend will continue tomorrow...no working out for ETG...a full day off...woo-hoo!)