I'm just getting back from my latest race, The Lakes of Williams Ranch 30K in Sugar Land, Texas. Overall, this was a nice race that seemed well run. The water stops were well located on the main triple loop of the course and there was light, but vocal support from people along most of the course. There were two water station located at opposite ends of a 3.7 mile loop on the course. I was glad to have brought a water bottle with me as I like to take in a lot of fluids on a day as warm as it was.

Although recents have left me somewhat underprepared for the distance, I still showed up prepared to run and represent my running club (The Woodlands Running Club). As a back of the pack runner, I was able to keep with a pace of 12:30 - 13:30 miles, otherwise known as my training run pace. A little before the halfway point I noticed my heart rate was staying higher than I liked (likely due to warm weather and 97% humidity) and started taking it a bit easier on the run. As I neared the 20K mark, a fellow runner named Heather said something to me about us leap-frogging past each most of the day, and as she was wearing a Longhorn Triathlon shirt--a race I hope to do one day--I asked her about the Longhorn Triathlon . We ended up walking and talking together for a bit which also allowed my heart to get a bit of a break. For the next 10K+, we walked and ran together (mostly walking as we were both suffering a bit, me from a high heart rate and occasional calf cramping, her from upset stomach) and just generally had great conversation and enjoyed the balance of the race. I finished somewhere around 4:24, about 15 minutes slower than planned, but I am happy with my performance.