Lake Houston 10k Recap

In August I particpated in the Lake Houston 10k. As race day neared, I began questioning my sanity again for deciding to run a race in the heat of the Houston Summer.

Lake Houston 10k Recap

Race day morning came early. I had opted to pick up my packet before the race and with the road closures I needed to get to the site by 6am.  I was up before the sun at 3:30 and had a light breakfast of 1/2 sprouted g

rain english muffin with almond butter and a banana.  I showered, got dressed, and was out the door by 5am.

I arrived ahead of the road closures and in plenty of time to pick up my packet.  The race was to start at 7am, so I headed back to my car to drop my stuff.  I found a nice curb to sit and wait until they called for the 10k to line up.  It seemed as if were were hanging out at the startline forever... as it started a good 10 minutes late. With the temps hovering around 80, with humidity in the 90%'s ... I was anxious to get going before it got any more miserable out.

The race started and ended at Kings Harbor in the Kingwood area right outside of Houston.  The course was flat and ran along Lake Houston Parkway.  Heading out from the start we took a right and ran about 2 miles then did a u-turn and ran a little over 2 miles and did another u-turn.  The road was tree lined and there was a good view of Lake Houston as we went over a bridge.  Along the route were 3 water stations which we passed twice, 2 of them handed out iced towels (which came along at the right time ~ mile 3 and mile 5-ish).

[caption id="attachment_3023" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Roadkill! #seenonmyrun[/caption]

My race strategy was to race it.  I was running it as part of my training plan for the Chicago Marathon and it called for a fast 6 miles that week.  I planned to start out at a comfortable pace and increase the pace.  Increasing the pace got harder as the race wore on, I tried my hardest.



After I got out of the finishers chute, I grabbed a bottle of cold water and another iced towel and tried to cool down.  Once I had stopped dripping (my shoes were squeeking with all the sweat), I ventured out and checked out the vendors and got some food - banana and multigrain bread with chocolate almond butter!!



I made a few goals for this race... time to see how I did against them:

5 Goals for Lake Houston 10k

1. Respect the distance.  Acheived... I had an early dinner and got to bed at a resonable time. 


2. Stay hydrated! Achieved... I brought my handheld with nuun in it. 


3. Time goals:  A – 1:00, B – 1:05, C – 1:10. 1:02:12 - not my A goal, but I am really happy about the time. 


4. Progressive splits. Did not achieve... 10:10/9:58/9:49/10:01/10:11/10:25... I think it is a perfect ladder :-)


5. Have fun!! Nailed it, despite the heat, I had a smile plastered on my face the whole time.

I enjoyed the race... I had never ran in the Kingwood area and this was a nice change of pace.  It was a well organized race (despite the late start), the volunteers at the water stops were very enthusiastic and water and towels seemed plentiful.  It was a very family friendly event too, with some stuff for the kids to do (I think I saw a climbing wall and bouncy house).

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I'm linking up with HoHo Runs and MissSippi Piddlin’ for the Weekly Wrap; and with MCM Mama Runs, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and My no-guilt life for Tuesdays on the Run