I focus on running after A2A. Tiffany warned years ago, “skating helps running; running doesn’t help skating.” My leg never felt recovered from A2A, despite plenty of time off skates. GPS and HR data said I was in better skating shape than I felt.
Thanks to weight control this time of the year, I was unlikely to do well in Tour de Donut (http://www.tourdedoughnut.com/), which was worth going only if I could make complete ass of myself safely and cheaply.
It’s wrong distance at wrong time, but I signed up for Houston IM. It’s a relatively local event of a sport I wanted to support. Mike and Brenda unexpected showed up, and we had 7 Texas Flyers in our own paceline. It was great being yelled at by Mike again.
Our agenda was to do our own pace. 7 is a big number at an event of this size.
_Sunday morning pace line
I don’t recall being this relaxed at the start. I had no personal ambition and was looking forward to skate with the team. With enough cooks in the kitchen, I turned my brain off and blindly followed the red-gold jerseys. With a very safe start, Mike dictated the pace; we ended up swallowed everyone except 5 or so racers; we spitted most of them out the back. Mike, Timo, and Casey did most of the work. Mackowski and I contributed a little.
12 U-turns allowed us to see the race develop. Simmons’ Rob and Alex controlled the lead. Brian from DC was allowed to hang as long as he shared the pulls. Brian was dropped during last lap.
Truesdell’s boots didn’t cooperate that morning. He still ended up with reasonable time. Grenda was a steady mover everyone wanted to skate with. It was good to see Sam in action again. You could see the little energy dot bouncing miles away.
_Race mode
Mike eased off the throttle at the back end of the final lap. I turned brain back on. 65-year-old Bob tried a breakaway at a weird time and was quickly neutralized; 2 Vegas teens wasted energy in the process and made slightly aggressive moves to cut back in. I let them—no need to risk crashing. Doug and I simply moved toward the front on safer part of the course. So nice to have teammates.
Final turn. Speed increased, no one committed. All the sudden someone attacked with insufficient acceleration. A few younger racers took off. The break died with a crash. I left my draft to avoid braking and pulled even with Mike. Mike said go. I didn’t have the legs to hold off everyone and ended up towing Casey and Red Confusion’s Brandon. I saw red/gold jerseys in the corner of my eyes. I eased into the finish arch safely, making sure Brandon stayed behind me.
_Cool down
I put on running shoes and did the scheduled 9:02-pace 9-mile run. It ended up longer and faster. Award ceremony with no hardware was a little disappointing.
Hiked 6.7-mile at Huntsville State Park in the afternoon; brought back memory from the ultra run last winter. The hike ended in full moon in the woods before Double Dave deep dish hitting the spot.
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