"No way I'm racing, I'll just go the Y and ride the bike to be smart."

"I earned a free entry to the race, maybe I'll just go pick up my packet, spectate, and then enjoy the free food and beer and eye candy."

"I'll warm up with my friends to keep them company."

"There's a low number in this packet and I'm wearing running clothes and shoes..."

"Oh hell.  It's a beautiful summer evening, get in the corral."

I had no idea what to expect.  Would my injury turn to searing pain and force me to jog it in at some point?  Would my lack of meaningful training for over a month now cause me to crap out?  One way to find out -- with no expectations, just run.

The Subaru 4 Mile is one of the more important local races.  There's enough prize money to lure out-of-town pros and semi-pros, and it's a Runner Of The Year event.  Perhaps most importantly, it has one of the best parties afterwards, set up in the roomy green space where two parkways converge.

The first mile was a bit of a blur, getting my bearings and trying to suss out a pace that was neither suicidal nor overly painful.

The lead men, East Africans all,  were done with mile 1 in well under 5 minutes:

Shortly afterwards, the lead women:

There were some fast Canadians aboot as well, eh?

By two miles, I had settled into an uncomfortable but sustainable groove, and was holding steady with a small pack including a relative newcomer to the top ranks of the local women.  Without really meaning to, I became an impromptu pacer of sorts for her, pushing if she drew ahead, easing off just a hair if she slowed, taking half glances over my shoulder to make sure she'd be free to run the best tangent on corners and staying the hell out of the way at all times.  I guess that in the back of my mind, I knew she might have a chance to win money and wanted to help the hometown cause.

Forrest Gimp in the early goings, with speedy local chick in the red:

The course has a long, long straightway before finishing just a couple hundred yards down a final turn.  That last traffic signal eventually got closer, and I picked it up as we neared, hoping my peer would match (or better yet, exceed) my kick in.  She didn't quite have it, and although we didn't speak a word during the race, when I could breathe again to congratulate her, she thanked me quite sincerely for being there.  Sometimes cool shit happens that transcends language, and this was one of those times.

Drummers at the kick corner:

My time was not good, but neither was it a total disaster, and it somehow fantastically held up for 2nd AG in a traditionally strong field.  ( Last year, healthy, I only took 4th AG.)

Upon later checking the cash results, my pace buddy earned $300 for her effort.  Nice!  (And I won a lawn flamingo, as did some of my friends!)  Then there was free beer, excellent free food, and much amusement at inebriated runners dancing into nightfall.  Injuries will heal, speed will return, but memories can't be made up for.

<embed id="flash-html-code" src="http://tinypic.com/i/input.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="262" height="19" />

Free beer after the race is always nice but what is even nicer was that you paced the newcomer. Did you get a chance to chat at the party? Those drums look cool.  There is a XC team that my DD competes against and they always bring about five or six drums to the meets. Those things get me motivated and I'm not even running! Good job, Jay and good luck with the injury.

Congrats and wtf Jay? Trying to shock your body into recovery again? Nice work and great of you to pace.

^ this. 

There's still good fire burning in that runner's body of yours, Jay. Even an injury can't stop that.  Well done on the AG award! What an ugly flamingo. Way cool!  Awesome pictures, quite the international crowd. And finally, how kind of you to have helped that lady runner pace to a win. You have a heart of gold.

Great job, Jay.  How are you feeling today, though?  Hope you can find out what's wrong and come back as strong as ever (if you were ever weak to begin with, looking at this).

NICE! Well done, Jay. The rest of us ought to run while healthy half as well as you do while injured.

Congrats, Jay!

Pink Flamingoes as awards? Wow, I never knew how many Texans were AG award winners....displaying their awards in their yards... 

B+ - shock, acupuncture, voodoo -- I'd try anything that helps

Jack - no chance to chat other than at the finish.  The drummers were really quite good, and loud.

Baboon, PAD, DaveP, SheCan - thanks!

Lily - Thanks, photo credit goes to one of my running club members, Lynn.  She has a very fancy camera.

Rick - cool, maybe the lone African was doing a tuneup race?  Thanks for the advice on the PT appointment, I plan to hit him with as much data as possible.  As for the ass, it's better!  Now the pain seems to come from the outside of the hip and radiate into the upper tailbone region.  Hopefully I can get it fixed up like you did.

D - strangely, the race did not make anything feel much worse.

Scotty - The flamingos were a huge fad here at one time, probably in the 60s-70s.  Now they're sort of mild retro humor.

Brr - thanks, it is hard to stay away.

Those are some pretty fast times for the winners. Like your thought progression. Might as well run if it doesn't hurt or make things worse. Nice that you were able to help the local woman. Even nicer that she recognized and acknowledged your assistance.