Saturday, May 16, 2009

Twilight 5k-5/8/09 - Race #3 Grand Prix

Pre-race routine:
With this being a night race, my whole routine went out the window. Matt (hubby) ran this race too! That excites me! Matt and I drove to downtown, parked, met up with Ron, Bree, and Lucas. We walked to the race and went to pick up our chip. There I saw Gygy and Rusty from BT! It was great to get to chat with them. It helped to calm my normal prerace gitters. There was no WU. Just went to the start and waited with Matt, Gygy, and Rusty. It was a crowded race and I knew already that I would have to be passing lots of peolpe who lined up wrong.
Run
The Fire Fighters raised a huge flag b/4 the start. This was cool!
It took me almost 30 seconds to get past the starting line. Then the first mile was playing the passing game. When will I learn to get near the starting line? I was feeling pretty good. Passed mile 1 at 7:49 clock time. I think I yelled, and speeded up. Mile 2 I hit at 15:06 so I think I did speed up a bit. I have to say the 3rd mile was hard. I wanted to walk SO bad. It was a mind game. I was glad to see the finish line.
Post race
After I finished, I waited at the finish line for Gygy, Rusty, Matt, Bree, and Ron. Never did see Gygy and Rusty finish. They may have come across while I was walking to find a good spot. Then saw Matt come across with a PR. 29.06, WOOT! Saw Bree and Ron cross then chatted with them and some other friends....Ron's grandaughter ran the kid's fun run, so we cheered her on. Then went to Brix and grubbed.
What limited your ability to perform faster:
ME! I had panned for rocks all day with Maggie (my 8 yo) on a field trip. This was lots of hiking and squatting so I went into the race tired. But I would not change going on the field trip....it was worth the seconds I lost in the race.
Came in 54th out of 843 females! WOOT!
Total Time = 23m 41s
Overall Rank = 276/1696
Age Group = 35 - 40F
Age Group Rank = 9/135

Skyline 5k 4/25/09 - #2 race in Grand Prix


So is this why my truck won't start?
Prerace
Got up around 0500 and got coffee. Drank it while I prayed for this race and my friends who were doing the race. Went to make my PB&J and found I was out of bread....NOOOOOO! So I heated up a Eggo Waffle and put P-nut butter on it. I think this hurt me in the long run...no pun intended. Drove to the DOWD YMCA to meet my buddy. We were going to meet there so we would be sure to be together. As I pulled into the DOWD, something happened in my car....It ended up a belt broke. I knew the car was acting weird on I77, so I had prayed that God just get me to the DOWD. He did...thanks God! She drove up and I hopped in her car then drove to the start.
I would say I really did not need a WU due to the heat. I was warm. However, I think holding my breath and then smelling the stinch in the port-o-jon....then gagging and almost throwing up could count for a warmup.
The Race!
The start was very crowded due to the small amout of space that was avalable. Even though I lined up near the start, I had to fight my way around all the people who lined up wrong. I think this could have zapped some energy because I had to jump upon the sidewalk a few times to pass people. Finally I made it past and got into a pretty fast pace for me. I went through my 1st song, my second, then the 3rd came on. I had not seen the 1st mile marker and I thought I may be going slower than normal. I try to time out my songs so I can guestimate my pace. This worried me a bit. I upped the pace a bit to find the 1 mile mark. After a few minutes of this I started gagging...like I was going to throw up. At this point, I went back to the previous pace. I started to doubt myself a bit, then in the distance, I saw the mile 2 marker. It said 15.08. OK, I am good now. I am OK on pace, but Oh no, I have 1 more mile.....OK, only 7ish more minutes. This isn't suppose to be easy. I do wish this pace was easy for me. When we started going down hill, a few people passed me. I feel like up hills....even though I hate them...are a strong point for me. I could not get the leg turnover I needed to pass the 2 girls (in my AG) back. I had been ahead of them the whole time. DRATS!!!!! I got to mile 3 and started gagging again. I thought, OH NO! If I throw up, this will mess up my time for sure. I saw the finish line and went in.
After Race!
After passing the finish line, I just walked around a bit. After a few minutes, I took off my chip. Then I went to cheer in Leigh....She came in at 29.08...WOOT! We met a few other friends and exchanged hellos. Then got a drink. Waited to see what our official time was then went back to the DOWD and ran 4 more miles. I called AAA and had my car towed and it is being worked on as I type this.
Not sure if hydration and breakfast hurt or not. I ran this faster than I ever have ran a 5k....so can I really expect more?
My Chip time was: 23.13
Overall Rank: 156/843
Age Group Rank: 5/13?
I did not like how we were crammed in at the start. However, it was a fun race. The volunteers were cheerful and helpful. So it was cool!

Matt came all the way to the DOWD to help his wife....thats a good man!

Leigh and I ran 4 more miles then she waited with me. Good friend!