Ran UVM today! Overall pretty happy with this race.. Here is my report.
Got up to the start with an hour and 45 minutes to spare! Sheesh! Sat around by the fire pits-which we needed because it was pretty cold. Also waited in line for the bathrooms 3 times! Luckily the lines weren't long. Before I knew it we were off. Goal was to run even paced and if all went well shoot for 2:55.
First 7 miles were extremely easy. I love this portion of the course because it is slight downhill almost the whole time. Had to really hold myself back the first mile. (Is it just me or does the first mile seem like you are running ridiculously slow-I always have too much adrenalin! Anyway first split was 6:28) Around 2 miles in I was the 5th girl. I told myself to not worry about the others ahead and run my own race and hope they would come back to me later. Passed one girl around mile 3 and then another around mile 5 or 6. Miles 2-7 felt really relaxed. Splits were 6:25,6:28,6:28,6:35,6:28,6:26.
Next part of the course is the hills by deer creek. Next 2 were uphill. During this part of the course I started noticing the wind... Of course it had to be a head wind..(why can't we ever have a tail wind??) During this section I passed another girl. Splits were 6:52,7:10.. (I like taking it really easy up my hills.) Started noticing some blisters at this point. I got excited at the top of the hill because I know that is the worst of it and the rest is mostly down with some rollers. Splits for miles 10-13 were 6:01, 6:34,6:49,6:23. (Talk about all over the place!) Ran the half in 1:26:15 and it felt fantastic.
AFter the half I really started noticing the wind... Dang wind! so I tried drafting off of a tall guy.. (Hopefully he wasn't mad! Him and I kept going back and forth) The wind was annoying but I was running pretty well and felt good so I tried not to let it bug me and decided I would finish strong even if 2:55 wasn't feesible anymore. I couldn't see the first girl so I just worked on trying to pass anyone ahead of me. Splits for the next 7 were 6:30,6:30,7:08 (hill/wind) 7:19 (wind/hill) 6:41,6:23,6:51. (around miles 18-19 I felt both quads tighten) HAng on! I kept thinking. Now I was out of the canyon and I was actually starting to feel kind of hot-even though the temps weren't very hot. (I get so overheated! Why cant it be 45 degrees the whole time?) Anyway at this point my legs didn't seem to want to turnover any more. It also makes it hard that there is no more steep downhill. Splits for the last 6 were 6:55,6:49,6:55,7:08,6:55,7:08 and last .20 in 6 minute pace. (The last 6 were pretty hard- and my blisters were killing-two black toenails and 3 huge blisters... waa waa) ANyway-I sprinted as hard as I could the last bit to get under 2:57. Finished 2nd girl overall and I was happy with it. (Wish I could have finished the last 6 miles stronger- and a 2:55 would have been nice-but I will take a 2:56:57.) The wind was annoying but could have been alot worse like 2012! It was nice to have cooler temperatures today. Ran with my kids in the kids 1k. So fun! Love that they do this! Anyway-good race.. Well organized... Love the course..
*Did take gu prior to racing and at miles 13 and 19.
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