Saturday, June 4 was the Renegade Trail 10k. It's been about 6 weeks now, so I'll do my best to remember it!
I set out early-ish for Palatine, as and soon as I left our garage I noticed the tire pressure light was on. Great! So I stopped at the first gas station I came to and filled the one low tire. I then began wishing and wishing that it wouldn't give me any more trouble, as I would be driving a bit of a distance, and on the expressway. Thankfully, it stayed fine until the next day.
After a dreary spring, the weather was abruptly warm and humid. My legs felt pretty good, but my lungs were not enjoying the trip. After an age group award-winning finish in a previous series race without really trying, I actually wanted to put a little effort into this race. The course was enjoyable, with some hills, plenty of mud, and a bit of crushed limestone. There was also plenty of shade, which really helped my comfort level.
I started out in the middle-to-back, as usual. Maybe if I did more warming up before races I'll feel better about starting in the middle, but I'm always afraid of using too much energy up. And psychologically, I feel better about picking people off as I go, rather than the other way around. I finished in 55:21, and my Garmin suggested that the course was a bit short.
After I finished, I got my water bottle and Nuun tablet from the car and headed to the picnic shelter for water. I had a banana and a bagel. I hung out for a bit, feeling kind of good about my time, so I thought I'd wait for the awards. After a couple of delays, they announced that there was trouble with the timing system, and that they'd try to have results online by midnight. They announced the first male and female finishers. I hit the road, as we had a soccer game to get to, and I needed to pick up trophies and photos for P's team.
I bought gas and jumped back onto the highway, where traffic suddenly slowed and stopped. I was sad to see a half-burned white Thunderbird to the side of the road as I passed and the fire trucks were leaving as I approached. I'm no good at identifying years of old cars, but it had fins, and I think it was a convertible. I imagined a 60-something man somewhere was feeling pretty sad then. I hope no one was hurt. Traffic cleared, and I arrived at home with enough time to run to the bathroom while the guys loaded up for soccer. Away we went to the rest of our hot and busy day.
Race results didn't appear for another few days. The organizers sent an e-mail apologizing for not being able to provide times, and said they'd mail the plaques. I looked up the results, and finished 4th in my age group--no plaque for me, but I still had a great time.
