1. Injury free.
2. Finish.
3. Save enough for the 16-mile run 2 hours after race.
The drive down south was mostly smooth sailing not requiring the Beltronics. I stopped by a Nike outlet and scored running outfits. It was depressing my legs were now too short for the XS warm up pants.
_Reunion
We stayed at Duane’s; it’s simple, big, and clean. I was envious of the backyard’s function-maintenance ratio.
It was fun visiting Duane’s new life after Dallas. 9-month-old Ace made friend with everyone. I stayed in the room with the track spikes that broke the 24-hour relay record in his running days. It made me think about next 10 years.
_Race
All eyes were on Alex and Rob.
I was relaxed at the start. I went through warm up half heartedly. I was happy Tom was back to racing and hoped to stay with him.
The best way to avoid crash was not skating behind a crashed skater. I started with the pros and got the 2nd spot. No one was fighting for positions. I kept the pace civil and let the lead guy accelerate way. Leading the peloton in a marathon race was a highlight of my life; it felt glorious an absurd.
I let the lead pack go after a few miles; I’d stay with Tom and Duane. The peloton kept slowing down; I stayed in contact. No one wanted to pull, but the young legs were getting antsy. Team Simmons was unconcerned. I thought about a breakaway just for the hell of it—the steep underpass suited my legs.
The pros finally accelerated. Casey had the legs but chose stay with Timo, Tom, Duane, and me. Casey still seemed frustrated from missing A2A after all the Sunday morning Windhaven repeats.
photo by someone good. thanks for the good shot
The lead pack was quickly down to Alex, Rob, and Lawrence. Lawrence was out teammated and got 3rd.
_Brick
2.5 hours after skate, 16-mile run started on hilly pavements of Huntsville State Park.
I went through bad patches and paused at mile 11. Uphill speed bled as expected. Accelerating down the hills was unexpectedly challenging. GPS said I accelerated at mile 15, which didn't agree with my memory.
I worried I trained too hard. I worried I didn’t go hard enough.
Groupon provided big meal at a laughable teppanyaki at Geisha. Thanks to P. F. Chang and Pei Wei, we now understand authenticity is an unnecessary ingredient in ethnic food.
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