Last week I got my awesome new trail shoes, La Sportiva Crosslites. I got to wear them Saturday on my run with Laura and I must say they rock! So light and grippy. I love the feel of the narrower and lower heel. I actually felt more nimble and stable without the extra wide flare at the bottom of the heel, which is ironic because traditionally it is thought that it gives you more stability, maybe on the roads but I don't know that it holds true for rough trails. They aren't as soft as my other trail shoes and this may take some getting used to just like running barefoot, but this shoe is meant to be my first experiment with a more minimal shoe. I wouldn't call them minimalist but they don't have all the bells and whistles that my other trail shoes have. My other shoes feel light at the start of a run but by mile 4 of a good effort I'm usually feeling their weight, I found this didn't happen with my Crosslites. I'll be interested to see how they do on a run of 8 miles or more. This weekend they will be put to the test of racing at the Run Like A Girl 8k Trail Race.
Last week was one of my best weeks of running so far since my return to running. I am happy to report that all my runs were enjoyable, and several gave me the elusive runner's high.
My Tuesday run I let myself pick up the pace a bit and really enjoyed feeling myself flying through the woods over rocky terrain and down steep inclines.
Wednesday I did my first installation of speed work. I warmed up 1.5 miles, then did less than a mile of fartleks, then less than a mile of cool down. I wanted to start off my first one some what easy, only 4 fartleks, I didn't want to over do it my first time out. I would liked to have gone faster during the fartleks but Tina was with me and I let her set the max pace since she isn't as speedy. I still got a good workout just not a max speedwork effort.
Then came Friday (elated angelic choir sings in back ground)! Friday I headed off to Crowders Mountain with a plan to run 6 easy miles. It started with a feeling of dread, I just knew this run would suck, legs felt cement filled. Much to my surprise by mile 3 I was feeling good, by mile 5 I was as high as a kite, mile 6 still awesome and decided to make it a 7 miler. By the end of mile 7 the delirious runner's high had dissipated and I was happy to stop while things still felt relatively good. Wow, what a run! I love having moments where I feel as though I could just run forever.
Saturday met Laura for our weekend run. She decided she didn't want to do a full long run, say 8 or 9 miles, but wanted to work on speed at a shorter distance. Her half marathon training plan called for a 10k so we picked 6 miles. 1 mile warm-up, 4 mile tempo, 1 mile cool down. I set the pace for our warm-up and tempo. Laura did a great job of keeping up. We did have to walk one hill on the way back in. I had another insane runner's high moment. I asked Laura if she felt like the wind because I did. Her reply was not as cheery and I'm thinking at that point if she had been closer to me she would have thrown a punch my way. I knew she was struggling at points and did my best to keep her focus away from this discomfort by giving her tips and making light conversation. With the tempo done I had Laura lead us on the cool down, which ended up only being 10 secs slower than the last mile of our tempo, way to take it down a notch! Laura had on these awesomely bright socks, green with a wide orange stripe and two small yellow stripes. She was Rainbow Brite in all her glory. I couldn't help but stare at her calves. I'll have to blame those socks on my near miss that has left the outside of my right ankle tender, luckily it doesn't hurt to run just walk.
After such a great week of running last week, yesterday's run was kind of sucky. It wasn't horrible but I never felt like the wind or that I could run forever and I sure didn't feel like adding any extra mileage to my plan. Oh well, runs like that are what make you stronger mentally and physically.
Daydreaming, ah, my favorite hobby outside of running. Of course much of that daydreaming revolves around running. Sometimes I enjoy hunting for gear on the interwebs that I can't have or races I would like to do. This time I'm day dreaming of an Adventure Running Co. trail running vacation. What are the chances that the Mother's Day fairy will buy me a trip? I think it would be fun to get my trail running girls to go with me and we could all take a much needed break from family duties for a week and enjoy the beautiful landscapes Mother Nature has to offer in our great country.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Fire Drill Friday!
Today I was a participant in a fire drill hosted by my own little trouble maker. Yes, my precious child set off a fire alarm while I was getting my beloved Volvo V50 serviced. We were sitting on a couch in the waiting area. Emmett was climbing off and on the couch as I read my book. The next thing I know there is a screeching alarm going off and on in my ear. I look to my left to see Emmett kneeling on the couch hand still up in the air in the direction of the alarm. Frak! This little stunt adds 20-30 minutes to our wait since the whole building has to evacuate and wait for the Fire Department to come and turn the alarm off. I just wanted to go bury my head in the sand. The firemen wanted to meet the culprit. They all tried taking turns to get him to speak but he just looked like a deer in the headlights. Any other kid would have been thrilled to have big tough (and cute) firemen come talk to them. Such are the adventures in mommy-hood. I'm sure this won't be our last adventure.
On a good note, I got my new trail shoes today! I ordered a pair of LA Sportiva
Crosslites from Zappos yesterday and they got here today. Zappos rocks for customer service. Need a quick shoe fix? Zappos is your go to website! They were waiting for me when I arrived home from my fire drill. I put them on my feet as quickly as possible, they have been there ever since. At first I wasn't sure what I thought about them. They felt snug at first, the mid section of upper is a bit stretchy, I was a bit concerned that I didn't like it. After wearing them for a few hours now that extra snug feeling is gone. I think I'm really going to like them. They are more minimal than my other trail shoes because they are made for faster shorter (less than marathon) distances. Sadly they will not work with my Dirty Girl Gaiters due to the scree guard across the laces. The Dirty Girl Gaiters require something like laces to hook onto to keep them on, the scree guard covers the laces. I originally told Laura that I would hold off until after RLAG trail 8k on May 1st to try them out. Now I'm thinking I might just try them for our 6 miles tomorrow. Laura will be testing out her first pair of trail shoes so we may as well try our new shoes together. I must say I look pretty sharp and fast in my new kicks. Yes, those are my pj's, I'm a trend setter!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Run For The Money 5k Race Report
I've had myself worked up all week over this 5k. It's the first road race I've done since last June, since then all I've done is trail races. I was pretty anxious to find out how much I've improved since last summer. My best 5k ever was 23:47 in 2002. Last year's 5k PR was 26:07. My goal was to just beat last year's even if it was just by a small margin.
Laura and her husband, Will, met me at a parking lot just less than a mile away from the start and we all did an easy .65 mile warm up together. We got a chance to preview the last part of the race. One word works best to describe it and that would be hilly. I had driven the first half earlier in the week and knew that part wasn't as hilly but flat is nothing that would be used to describe this course. So the plan is not to go out too fast and save some legs for the last mile but at the same time I want to make sure I don't go too slow either.
This was a big race for our little town, 1,000 runners. Almost every runner that I know was there. It's always fun to get to see other faces I know and chat with my fellow running moms. Getting to meet their husbands and kids is always nice, too. One of my road running partners was there with her hubby. She seemed really excited about the race, she's only done one 5k and a sprint tri, several years back. I was really surprised when she told me she would be there and even more surprised at how pumped up she seemed to be.
We found a spot at the start. The race director made an attempt at seeding everyone by having signs for the paces but it was clear that the people we were around weren't doing a 6 min mile. We decided to stay there even though we are more 8-9 min mile-ish. As we were chatting I looked up to see the runners at the very front all lean forward in the ready, set, go position. Oh, time to go. I didn't even hear a loud speaker announcement or any kind of signal.
Laura and her husband took off. Will was out of sight in no time but I could see Laura. I got stuck behind some other runners as we rounded the first turn, which was less than .05 from the start, talk about a cluster f*#%! I watched as Laura got farther ahead. Crap, either she is starting out too fast or I'm pokey woman. I finally caught up with her before the end of mile 1. I was hoping we would stay together from then on but it didn't take long before I realized she was slipping behind. The first mile was fast only small hills. Mile 2 was a good mix. And mile 3 was 75% hill.
There's really nothing stellar to tell about. I did what I could mentally to make myself keep up my pace. I did take a brief walk break just to get some water at an aid station. Even then I only took a small sip and started running again. The last .25+ mile was a straight shot to the finish up hill so I could see it. I'm so glad I could see it because I needed it to convince my legs to go. I wish I could say I had some kick left in me for the last 0.1 mi but I didn't. I saw Brian holding Emmett up on his shoulders near the finish. I waved and Emmett ignored me but looked like he was having fun. I looked at the clock and was happy to see that I finished in 25:09, almost a minute faster than last year's PR and it was on a tougher course. I have no idea right now where I placed, it's such a big race I'm sure I didn't blow away the competition.
After I was done socializing and hanging out, I walked Brian and Emmett back to their car. Then I started my cool down run back to my car about a mile away. On my way I passed a parking lot where a lot of the runners parked. As I ran by the lot I heard a girl say, "Look at her, she's still going!" It made me chuckle inside and I gave myself a pat on the back for still having the energy and legs to run back to my car.
Garmin Stats:
25:09
Avg 8:05 min mile
Splits:
Mile 1- 7:41
Mile 2- 8:03
Mile 3- 8:26
Mile .1- 0:57
Results are in: 13/123 in Age Group 30-39 (they didn't have overall and overall womens' results)
Some non racing news. Yesterday I won a pair of New Balance 760's from Run Like A Mother! I'm so excited. I never win any cool prizes, but now I have. Sadly this means I've used up all my luck and won't win the skirt, the compression socks, or the lottery.
Laura and her husband, Will, met me at a parking lot just less than a mile away from the start and we all did an easy .65 mile warm up together. We got a chance to preview the last part of the race. One word works best to describe it and that would be hilly. I had driven the first half earlier in the week and knew that part wasn't as hilly but flat is nothing that would be used to describe this course. So the plan is not to go out too fast and save some legs for the last mile but at the same time I want to make sure I don't go too slow either.
This was a big race for our little town, 1,000 runners. Almost every runner that I know was there. It's always fun to get to see other faces I know and chat with my fellow running moms. Getting to meet their husbands and kids is always nice, too. One of my road running partners was there with her hubby. She seemed really excited about the race, she's only done one 5k and a sprint tri, several years back. I was really surprised when she told me she would be there and even more surprised at how pumped up she seemed to be.
We found a spot at the start. The race director made an attempt at seeding everyone by having signs for the paces but it was clear that the people we were around weren't doing a 6 min mile. We decided to stay there even though we are more 8-9 min mile-ish. As we were chatting I looked up to see the runners at the very front all lean forward in the ready, set, go position. Oh, time to go. I didn't even hear a loud speaker announcement or any kind of signal.
Laura and her husband took off. Will was out of sight in no time but I could see Laura. I got stuck behind some other runners as we rounded the first turn, which was less than .05 from the start, talk about a cluster f*#%! I watched as Laura got farther ahead. Crap, either she is starting out too fast or I'm pokey woman. I finally caught up with her before the end of mile 1. I was hoping we would stay together from then on but it didn't take long before I realized she was slipping behind. The first mile was fast only small hills. Mile 2 was a good mix. And mile 3 was 75% hill.
There's really nothing stellar to tell about. I did what I could mentally to make myself keep up my pace. I did take a brief walk break just to get some water at an aid station. Even then I only took a small sip and started running again. The last .25+ mile was a straight shot to the finish up hill so I could see it. I'm so glad I could see it because I needed it to convince my legs to go. I wish I could say I had some kick left in me for the last 0.1 mi but I didn't. I saw Brian holding Emmett up on his shoulders near the finish. I waved and Emmett ignored me but looked like he was having fun. I looked at the clock and was happy to see that I finished in 25:09, almost a minute faster than last year's PR and it was on a tougher course. I have no idea right now where I placed, it's such a big race I'm sure I didn't blow away the competition.
After I was done socializing and hanging out, I walked Brian and Emmett back to their car. Then I started my cool down run back to my car about a mile away. On my way I passed a parking lot where a lot of the runners parked. As I ran by the lot I heard a girl say, "Look at her, she's still going!" It made me chuckle inside and I gave myself a pat on the back for still having the energy and legs to run back to my car.
Garmin Stats:
25:09
Avg 8:05 min mile
Splits:
Mile 1- 7:41
Mile 2- 8:03
Mile 3- 8:26
Mile .1- 0:57
Results are in: 13/123 in Age Group 30-39 (they didn't have overall and overall womens' results)
Some non racing news. Yesterday I won a pair of New Balance 760's from Run Like A Mother! I'm so excited. I never win any cool prizes, but now I have. Sadly this means I've used up all my luck and won't win the skirt, the compression socks, or the lottery.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Running Skirt Love
I want to talk about running skirts. Most people who know me know that I am not much of a girly girl and it is rare to find me in a skirt or dress. I used to love to run in my split sides running shorts but after a group of ladies from a running forum raved about their running skirts from runningskirts.com I changed my mind. I had tried running skirts once before and they had compression shorts built in. The shorts rode up and drove me nuts so I gave up. The beauty of the skirts that the ladies were raving about is that they have a brief built in instead of compression shorts. I reluctantly gave runningskirts.com a try.
I fell in love with the green running skirt I had ordered the first run and have never looked back. Not only are they the best thing ever to run in, no worries about your thighs eating your shorts creating that awesome lump of fabric up in your crotch to rub you raw, but they also come in the cutest colors and patterns! My favorite is my pink plaid skirt. I also have hot pink, green, and a black one that has the Run Like A Girl logo on the back.
My friend and running buddy, Laura, is giving away a skirt from runningskirts.com. So head over to her blog http://myreasontorun.blogspot.com/ and sign up to win a skirt. You won't be sorry you did. I've recently thrown out all my running shorts. I now refuse to run in anything but these skirts. What skirt would be complete without a pair of compression socks? Here's a cool blog, Lil Runner, that is giving away a pair of CEP Compression socks.
I fell in love with the green running skirt I had ordered the first run and have never looked back. Not only are they the best thing ever to run in, no worries about your thighs eating your shorts creating that awesome lump of fabric up in your crotch to rub you raw, but they also come in the cutest colors and patterns! My favorite is my pink plaid skirt. I also have hot pink, green, and a black one that has the Run Like A Girl logo on the back.
My friend and running buddy, Laura, is giving away a skirt from runningskirts.com. So head over to her blog http://myreasontorun.blogspot.com/ and sign up to win a skirt. You won't be sorry you did. I've recently thrown out all my running shorts. I now refuse to run in anything but these skirts. What skirt would be complete without a pair of compression socks? Here's a cool blog, Lil Runner, that is giving away a pair of CEP Compression socks.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Birthday Wrap Up
So there isn't much excitement going on for my birthday today. The big 38 doesn't feel a whole lot different than 37. It does make me two years away from the Master's Division at races. That seems kind of odd. Two years doesn't sound like long enough to make me a Master runner. I have to say I'm looking forward to reaching that milestone as much as I'm dreading it. Master's runner sounds like I'm empowered and knowledgeable but it also sounds like I should have one foot in the grave by then, 40 is nowhere near the grave. Anyway back to this year's age, no big deal, we aren't doing any official celebrating. I do have an appt to get a new tattoo with Emmett's name worked into it so I am excited about that.
On the running front things have been uneventful, sort of. I've done very little barefoot running since my first round of blisters and hot spots. I did a very short one mid week last week, I've got a tiny bit of soreness on the top of my left foot. So it's time to dial back the barefooting mileage a bit until that is resolved. I've also got a mild quad strain in my right leg. It's not causing pain, it's just a noticeable tight spot. I'm taking a few days off to rest and stretch it, gently of course. I've got my first road 5k coming up this weekend. I'm anxious to see how I can do, I just hope the quad is settled by then.
Laura and I checked out another access point for the Ridgeline Trail at the boulder's access area on Bethlehem Rd. It was a hilly challenge. Laura and I openly complained about the abundance of hills. We also reminded ourselves of how good the hills are for our quest to dominate the racing scene. We both brought our cameras. Laura was sad to find out her battery was dead and my pics didn't come out as well as hoped. Laura gave me a good tough girl pose for the camera and I know she's going to love me for sharing it with everyone.
She's now done a handful of trail runs, one in the rain and this last one on some rough and hilly terrain. I'll gladly give her her first bad ass trail girl badge. After this run she went home and was put to work in her back yard by her project obsessed hubby. She is definitely a mom to respect for her toughness!
Have a good week of running everyone! Hopefully I'll have a good report for you this weekend after the Run For The Money 5k.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Re-inspired Road Running
No worries folks! I'm not giving up trail running. After too long of a time, I finally had a day of non-trail running that felt good, no not just good, good with a side of awesome sauce!
This morning my new awesome running buddy, Laura, informed me that she could get together for a run today. We decided on the Gastonia Greenway since we both needed a nice flat run to let our bodies recover a bit more from our races this past weekend.
I arrived a little early so I decided to get my 1 mile barefoot run out of the way. This was my first day of going a full mile barefoot. So far the bare-footing is going well. The skin on the balls of my feet are starting to feel tender but other than that I've not had any other common barefoot newbie complaints. I'm taking it nice and slow with adding distance in hopes to avoid too many of the usual newbie problems. I'm noticing that it is becoming more natural to use my new shorter stride with mid-foot strike both barefoot and shod. I still do a check every now and then but it's not every stride like a few weeks ago. I made it back to the car a few minutes before Laura arrived, perfect timing!
We had a great run. Lots of talking. I told her of my woes from my run with my other running partners last week. There were some conversations that frustrated me. It was good to get that off my chest and for her to understand how I felt. I'm glad she didn't think I was nuts and decide to take off running in the other direction. Maybe she didn't run away because she knew I could keep up with her? Hmmm...
Speaking of keeping up with her, I loved that I was running with someone that I felt like I could keep an even pace with. I've gotten so used to running at the greenway with runners that I always have to keep my pace in check for them. It was nice to feel my legs and feet turning over at a higher rate and to feel my breathing really get into a good rhythm. I'm not going to call it a hard run but it wasn't the easy that I've been doing. The easy I've been doing with the other girls is too easy. I can chat up a storm when I run with them. With Laura I can chat but I've got to pause in my speaking long enough to breath. We held a good pace, 9:20 min/mi average. It felt awesome to get to do that kind of effort on "roads" again. I hope we can get our schedules to match up every now and then so we can crank out some good miles at that pace. I'm also hoping she can hit the trail with me this weekend, too.
It was great to enjoy "road" running again today. I have to thank Laura for that. I don't know that I would have had such a smooth run by myself at the greenway. In the past I've always thought of myself as a solo runner but slowly I am learning that running buddies can really add some inspiration to your routine. So a big thanks to all my running buddies, you all inspire me in some way. I hate playing favorites but I'm about to. Kay and Laura have given me the most inspiration lately to push myself and to encourage me to be the best runner I can be. I'm so grateful to have both of them as friends and running buddies. (I feel a group hug coming on.)
This morning my new awesome running buddy, Laura, informed me that she could get together for a run today. We decided on the Gastonia Greenway since we both needed a nice flat run to let our bodies recover a bit more from our races this past weekend.
I arrived a little early so I decided to get my 1 mile barefoot run out of the way. This was my first day of going a full mile barefoot. So far the bare-footing is going well. The skin on the balls of my feet are starting to feel tender but other than that I've not had any other common barefoot newbie complaints. I'm taking it nice and slow with adding distance in hopes to avoid too many of the usual newbie problems. I'm noticing that it is becoming more natural to use my new shorter stride with mid-foot strike both barefoot and shod. I still do a check every now and then but it's not every stride like a few weeks ago. I made it back to the car a few minutes before Laura arrived, perfect timing!
We had a great run. Lots of talking. I told her of my woes from my run with my other running partners last week. There were some conversations that frustrated me. It was good to get that off my chest and for her to understand how I felt. I'm glad she didn't think I was nuts and decide to take off running in the other direction. Maybe she didn't run away because she knew I could keep up with her? Hmmm...
Speaking of keeping up with her, I loved that I was running with someone that I felt like I could keep an even pace with. I've gotten so used to running at the greenway with runners that I always have to keep my pace in check for them. It was nice to feel my legs and feet turning over at a higher rate and to feel my breathing really get into a good rhythm. I'm not going to call it a hard run but it wasn't the easy that I've been doing. The easy I've been doing with the other girls is too easy. I can chat up a storm when I run with them. With Laura I can chat but I've got to pause in my speaking long enough to breath. We held a good pace, 9:20 min/mi average. It felt awesome to get to do that kind of effort on "roads" again. I hope we can get our schedules to match up every now and then so we can crank out some good miles at that pace. I'm also hoping she can hit the trail with me this weekend, too.
It was great to enjoy "road" running again today. I have to thank Laura for that. I don't know that I would have had such a smooth run by myself at the greenway. In the past I've always thought of myself as a solo runner but slowly I am learning that running buddies can really add some inspiration to your routine. So a big thanks to all my running buddies, you all inspire me in some way. I hate playing favorites but I'm about to. Kay and Laura have given me the most inspiration lately to push myself and to encourage me to be the best runner I can be. I'm so grateful to have both of them as friends and running buddies. (I feel a group hug coming on.)
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Sticks-n-Stones Trail Race
This weekend was the second race of the Carolina Trail Race Series, the Sticks-n-Stones 5k and 10k at the US National Whitewater Center. There are two categories in the series, long and short. After running the Charlotte Running Company Trail 8.2 miles I decided to enter the long distance series. I had planned on doing the 10k of this race but due to my ITband issues the 5k was the best choice for me. I emailed the director of the race series to see if I could change categories and he made my week by saying he could do that for me. So I signed up for the race and waited for an illness to strike because since December every time I signed up for a race on line I came down with a cold within 24 hours after signing up. I was lucky this time and stayed illness free!
I decided I was going to give this race my best effort. I decided to try to start out fast for the first time in a race. I'm not good at this, I really like to hang back and let everyone pass me. In a 5k you've really got to start out strong and hold it if you want to stand a chance of placing well because there is no making up time later in the race like a 10k or above. Kay was there to run the 10k. We discussed my plan during our warm up run and as we were standing around waiting she told me I was to start in the front row. Yikes, that's a scary place to go. I knew I'd be hearing her voice the whole race keeping me from slacking at any point.
We went over to the start area and I stood right at the front. The timing service Emcee informed us that he would be staging the racers. The only race where I've been staged was at the two Peachtree Road Races I did. This new development was nice to hear. First he called for the 6 minute milers and below, we all just stood there and looked at him since it's rare to have a trail runner doing under 6 minute miles. After that he asked for the 7 minute and below milers he finally had some takers. I decided to hang out with the 8 minute milers which put me in the second row. I eyed my competition and hoped they weren't as fast as they looked, and not in my age group.
The signal was given to go and I took off as fast as I could. The start was downhill. After reaching the flat area I realized that I went a hair too fast down that hill and my quads already felt wrecked. We ran around the kayak and whitewater pool on a wide gravel path. There were areas with freshly laid gravel that were really awkward to run on. I finally moved just off the gravel on to the grass. Even though I started as hard as I could I still got passed. I saw two women pass me and I knew there was already one ahead of me from the start. We made it to the trail head without a traffic jam, that was a great feeling to be able to keep running at that point. The trail felt so good on my legs compared to the gravel path around the pool.
Once in the woods I set myself to my task of not letting the two girls ahead of me out of my sight. I am proud to say they never did get out of my sight. I also never got passed on the trail. I only passed one person and he clearly had started out too fast and had to walk around mile two. During the last mile there was a lot of pain and moments where vomiting seemed possible. Every now and then I would think, "Oh my god! I'm in 4th place for women!" That was enough to keep me from backing off. I kept hoping one of the two girls in front of me would poop out but they never did, always kept 10 to 100 feet ahead of me. I made it up the hill to the parking lot with very little left in my legs but I still managed to find a last little kick left in me for the most glorious end to any race I've done in a long time.
After turning in my chip and grabbing some water I went for a cool down run around the pool. My legs really needed to loosen back up. After my cool down I headed straight to the results board. Just as I thought 4th place for overall women! Kay blew away the 10k and won female overall. I'm in trouble next year when she moves up to my age group!
Stats:
Time: 31:28
Garmin distance: 3.37
Garmin Pace: 9:22
Official Pace: 9:33
Placing:
Overall: 20/70
Females: 4/40
Females 35-39: 1/10
I decided I was going to give this race my best effort. I decided to try to start out fast for the first time in a race. I'm not good at this, I really like to hang back and let everyone pass me. In a 5k you've really got to start out strong and hold it if you want to stand a chance of placing well because there is no making up time later in the race like a 10k or above. Kay was there to run the 10k. We discussed my plan during our warm up run and as we were standing around waiting she told me I was to start in the front row. Yikes, that's a scary place to go. I knew I'd be hearing her voice the whole race keeping me from slacking at any point.
We went over to the start area and I stood right at the front. The timing service Emcee informed us that he would be staging the racers. The only race where I've been staged was at the two Peachtree Road Races I did. This new development was nice to hear. First he called for the 6 minute milers and below, we all just stood there and looked at him since it's rare to have a trail runner doing under 6 minute miles. After that he asked for the 7 minute and below milers he finally had some takers. I decided to hang out with the 8 minute milers which put me in the second row. I eyed my competition and hoped they weren't as fast as they looked, and not in my age group.
The signal was given to go and I took off as fast as I could. The start was downhill. After reaching the flat area I realized that I went a hair too fast down that hill and my quads already felt wrecked. We ran around the kayak and whitewater pool on a wide gravel path. There were areas with freshly laid gravel that were really awkward to run on. I finally moved just off the gravel on to the grass. Even though I started as hard as I could I still got passed. I saw two women pass me and I knew there was already one ahead of me from the start. We made it to the trail head without a traffic jam, that was a great feeling to be able to keep running at that point. The trail felt so good on my legs compared to the gravel path around the pool.
Once in the woods I set myself to my task of not letting the two girls ahead of me out of my sight. I am proud to say they never did get out of my sight. I also never got passed on the trail. I only passed one person and he clearly had started out too fast and had to walk around mile two. During the last mile there was a lot of pain and moments where vomiting seemed possible. Every now and then I would think, "Oh my god! I'm in 4th place for women!" That was enough to keep me from backing off. I kept hoping one of the two girls in front of me would poop out but they never did, always kept 10 to 100 feet ahead of me. I made it up the hill to the parking lot with very little left in my legs but I still managed to find a last little kick left in me for the most glorious end to any race I've done in a long time.
After turning in my chip and grabbing some water I went for a cool down run around the pool. My legs really needed to loosen back up. After my cool down I headed straight to the results board. Just as I thought 4th place for overall women! Kay blew away the 10k and won female overall. I'm in trouble next year when she moves up to my age group!
Stats:
Time: 31:28
Garmin distance: 3.37
Garmin Pace: 9:22
Official Pace: 9:33
Placing:
Overall: 20/70
Females: 4/40
Females 35-39: 1/10
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