I almost wore flats.

Last night I almost wore racing flats. In fact, I took a picture, to be all, "Oooh, I haven't worn flats in a year" - but then as I walked out the door with them on, I felt way too close to the ground. I ran back upstairs and put my Kinvaras on.

The D-tag is from Greek Fest 5k...over a year ago.

What was the occasion? I jumped into a 2-mile race last minute. I don't know how it's happening that all my races are last minute, but in this case, half-way through the workday I found out that our evening plans changed. Instead of community group with our church (which I lead), we'd be meeting for a farewell party for a member who was moving away (which was at a bar...which I could be late to, since I wasn't in charge). This will probably be the only summer series 2-miler I can make, so I wanted to do it.

The summer series are free for New Orleans Track Club members, so I just showed up and registered few minutes prior to the start. I got in a 1-mile warmup just running from my parked car, then adding a little extra.
My plan going into the race was 6:30's - I know, not blistering, but I'd run speed work that morning since I hadn't planned on racing! My legs definitely were feeling those 400s, too. So I thought that sounded safe and hopefully doable. The weather was hot and humid, with a storm possibly brewing.
These races are heavily attended by the high school runners, so of course I found myself swept up in a large group of teenage boys early on. I was still able to hold my pace pretty consistently, but it's funny that the race stayed so crowded the whole time and I had to do a lot of weaving. I guess I'm the same pace as the slower high schoolers, so we were together the whole time.
The race went by so fast I don't really have a lot to say about it, except that the air was very heavy the whole way. I crossed the line in 12:56. Not my fastest, but good considering the 12x400's that morning. And pretty good pacing, too.
After the race, they had beer, hot dogs, peanuts, etc., but the impending storm arrived and I left early. I got drenched on the way to my car. Of course, the rain made the temperature so much more bearable as soon as it didn't matter anymore!
As for racing flats, I'm not sure I'll be wearing them again. I used to think these shoes (Mizuno Musha - now discontinued) felt perfect for the track or short races, but they felt hard, inflexible, and uncomfortable last night. I might need to ease into them.