Texas Independence Relay (Read 3309 times)

We might end up doing something different, but here are my thoughts at present. Have a team meet up Friday night in order to have a final rundown and make sure everyone is on the same page. I believe we should be able to find rooms in or near Gonzales in the $50-75 range. Here’s where I stayed last year. http://www.lockhartinntexas.com/ (Do you all want to camp? ) On March 6th, I would like team members to be in TX (Dallas or Houston) by noon. The Dallas van will leave in the afternoon and attempt to get to Austin/Gonzales before 5pm. I’ve posted a document on the Google group as a rough outline of items we’ll need to address.

Wow that place looks awesome..snicker. Can I bring my own sheets? I guess there isn't a Hilton in Gonzales, huh?

Some Comments ... Training: Last year I did the Disney Goofy (Half-Marathon on Saturday and Full Marathon on Sunday) as well as the Vermont 6x6 Ultra Relay and it's not as bad as one might think to train for these kinds of events. If we are running 20-25 miles over the course of about 30 hours, you will have plenty of time to recover from each leg. If one is doing near marathon distance training in advance of the relay, you will be fine, especially if you do a couple of doubles in a day (7-10 AM, 5-7 PM) AND do a couple of weekends where you run 6-8 late on Saturday afternoon and 10-12 early Sunday morning. Just remember that you need to fuel up AFTER each of the legs and then recycle an hour before the next leg. Friday Evening: It would be great to stay at a reasonable motel the night before the race. There will be adequate time in the morning before the race to drive the 30-40 miles to get to the start, get organized and race. FORGET trying to get a place for the Saturday evening. Bring a sleeping bag and just hangout by the van when your van is waiting for the next van exchange. Race Strategy: Even though you will be running legs roughly equivalent to 10K's, you can't run them as 10K's because you won't recover properly for the next leg. Our experience on the ultra is that we were able to maintain Half-marathon pace through all of the legs without a problem. You don't want to be burned out before the race is half over. SO ... Train for half-marathon speed and marathon endurance!

Some Comments ... Training: Last year I did the Disney Goofy (Half-Marathon on Saturday and Full Marathon on Sunday) as well as the Vermont 6x6 Ultra Relay and it's not as bad as one might think to train for these kinds of events. If we are running 20-25 miles over the course of about 30 hours, you will have plenty of time to recover from each leg. If one is doing near marathon distance training in advance of the relay, you will be fine, especially if you do a couple of doubles in a day (7-10 AM, 5-7 PM) AND do a couple of weekends where you run 6-8 late on Saturday afternoon and 10-12 early Sunday morning. Just remember that you need to fuel up AFTER each of the legs and then recycle an hour before the next leg. Friday Evening: It would be great to stay at a reasonable motel the night before the race. There will be adequate time in the morning before the race to drive the 30-40 miles to get to the start, get organized and race. FORGET trying to get a place for the Saturday evening. Bring a sleeping bag and just hangout by the van when your van is waiting for the next van exchange. Race Strategy: Even though you will be running legs roughly equivalent to 10K's, you can't run them as 10K's because you won't recover properly for the next leg. Our experience on the ultra is that we were able to maintain Half-marathon pace through all of the legs without a problem. You don't want to be burned out before the race is half over. SO ... Train for half-marathon speed and marathon endurance!

Good info Ira - thanks. I was thinking about the pacing as well and thought it would need to be near tempo pace (15K-1/2M pace) to make sure you had enough in the tank for 3+ legs. The only bad part about the Hampton Inn in Seguin is it is West of Gonzales and most of us will be coming from the East (or North). A slight inconvenience but it should be better than the local establishments.

I believe we should be able to find rooms in or near Gonzales in the $50-75 range.

I just did a check and it looks everything in Gonzales is booked on the on-line services. I haven't called the non-chain locations. For those coming in from out of the area, it looks like Austin is the best choice, about an hour away from Gonzales. I will be visiting a friend in Austin after the race so that location works for me. When we get closer to having the full team compliment, we can organize the car-pool connections, etc. I seem to be good at that (when I don't screw up ), right Mississippi?

Closest Hampton Inn (Hilton) is in Seguin - roughly 30 miles West of Gonzales. There are no Marriott properties nearby.

30 miles west of Gonzales? That sounds pretty good. Otherwise, San Antonio somewhere could be the best place for the money. I like San Antonio. Ira! I hope you don't plan to prevent me from running all out. I will run the first leg as a race at that distance, perhaps hold back about 2 to 5 sec/mi of effort, second, same thing but my speed will have decayed a tiny bit. Then gut it out for the last. And if more is asked of me, I'll have more to give. But I also agree that you have very good advice. I think Jeff will be running just about the same. I'm hoping to give him a little run for the money. We'll see. When do we get our start-time Assignment, Modal?

When do we get our start-time Assignment, Modal?

From the Rule Book It is according to the predicted pace that your team’s specific start time will be established (which we’ll communicate to you a week before the race)

So, we will be running at night? Just got back to running since my cold and holy shit, I am slow. Hopefully my legs get back to normal soon .

So, we will be running at night? Just got back to running since my cold and holy shit, I am slow. Hopefully my legs get back to normal soon .

Dude, make that log public. It's amazing what public humiliation will do to inspire you.