Official Time 2:14:59
Official Pace 8:38/min mile
Hands down, the most enjoyable race I have had up to this point. For those of you who aren't familiar, El Scorcho is held during the start of the usually hottest part of the summer for North Texas in Ft. Worth and starts at midnight in mid July. There is an option of 25K (la Scorchita) and 50K (El Scorcho).
The day before was murder for me having to wait all day for a race. I woke up that morning at 6am as my body usually does since that's what time I usually get up for work. Carb loaded all day long and actually I had been carb loading two and three days before. I think I may have eaten 5-6 six small meals the whole day, with my last one being around 7pm. I was paranoid of having an upset stomach as during my late night training runs I had been having an issue there. I figured it was due to the Powerade or Gatorade I was drinking. So I decided to get my electrolytes in all day long and stop around 6 or 7 then only drink water thereafter. Turned out to be a good idea I think. I only drank water during the race, never drank the other stuff and my belly was fine. Race anxiety started to set in late afternoon. Midnight couldn't have gotten there soon enough.
This year the weather was favorable. Just two or three hours before, there was a weak cold front that blew through the area, dropping the temps down 10 degrees. Usually the temps would be in the upper 80s or low 90s at race start. We got a break this year. Humidity wasn't all that bad. Not really any breeze at all.
It didn't feel like a race when I got there, more like a big ol party. I went there just with the intention on completing it, drinking a beer or two and then and getting the heck out of there. I was already sleepy as it was past my bedtime. I had been carb loading for 3 days as if I was running a 50k instead of the 25k. Found my friend Blanca who was so nice to pick up my race packet for me, spoke to a few other dailymile folks and then hooked up with my "family" the Dallas Running Club.
I had no race strategy going in. The race started, I just went out, not sure what pace to even commence with. I figured my body would tell me what pace to settle in to and I was right. The course was well lit in some places, but a few places was really dark. Thankfully I brought my headlamp and turned it on in those dark places to keep from falling on my ass since I'm blind as a bat.
I was able to keep it steady for 3 laps. Felt really good. Then I remembered and said to myself "This is a RACE". Which means you are supposed to be exhausted and give it your everything. Right about then my Garmin told me it was full and stupid me didn't delete my previous data, so it was stuck and wouldn't go further. So I would have to rely on my body to tell me what to do. The best thing to ever happen.
I decided I WOULD have negative splits, even if I passed out doing it and I was determined to not let anyone pass me (but they did anyway but I kept it at a minimal LOL). I just listened to my heart rate and ran at the edge of it blowing up, but knowing just about how much take without letting it get to that point. The support on the course was superb with there being water/refueling every 1.5 miles so that really helped out as well.
It was a great atmosphere all around. Once I was done, I stuck around to support and cheer the other runners completing their laps. Was like one big party. I plan on participating in this every year in the future, even if I'm not running I'll be there for some type of support. Great race, great support, well organized. Post race food could have been a little better but hey I'm not complaining. Most folks brought ice chests full of stuff and snacks. I'll make sure to do that next year. Job well done El Scorcho. I will be looking forward to you next year. 50k? We shall see.
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