I have been dreading writing this race report because this race is one I don't really care to remember....I hate to be negative but this one might be a little negative. Anyway-I woke up ready/excited to race-but my attidue started changing a little when I went outside and it was already windy...Then we got up the canyon and it was even more windy.( I felt I was having dejavu from last year's race) I was bummed because I really wanted to run a 6:20 pace and beat my time from last year...I knew it would very difficult in the crazy wind. (At least I ran into my old friend/teammate Kristen Coombs and she distracted me from being negative with her bubbly positive energy)
Anyway-the race starts and my first split is 6:05 (first mile is downhill) At this point I am only in 4th place. The next two miles are 6:21, 6:34. (the wind is blowing like a madman) and I am already feeling tired from battling it..("This is way to early to be feeling this fatigued"-I thought)At mile 3 Melody from the blog passed me looking strong...I tried to stay close to her-but couldn't)
Miles 4,5,6 were 6:41, 6:37, 6:37. At this point I am just trying to stay positive, my body was not feeling good, which was making it hard on my brain. (also the fact I was only in 5th place and couldn't even see the first place girl in front of me-I knew that this was probably not going to be a repeat win for me) I did take a gu at mile 6 which seemed to help me get through the next couple miles.
Miles 7,8,9 were 6:51, 6:38, 6:31. (Note to self-gatorade doesn't feel good in the eye..As I was trying to drink my gatorade, a gust of wind blew it in my eye- and it stung...ouch!!) The dust in the air didn't seem to help my eye problem either..boohoo..Anyway, at this point I think there may have been a tailwind for all of .3 miles of the race so I made the best use of it as possible and around mile 9 passed the girl in front of me...I really wished I had a group to draft with like last year-but there was not and I found myself running alone most of the time...
Miles 10,11 were 6:48, 7:09...Let the slow miles begin...I kept trying to tell myself to "stay strong and focus" but it was so hard...The excitement of racing was totally gone and I felt like I was doing a training run-I had to keep reminding myself that I was racing and to keep pushing even though my body and mind were completely exhausted and wanted to be done..
Miles 12,13 were 7:01,6:59. (last .15 was 1:00-I showed the course as being .05 long) I did see my family at mile 12 and even they couldn't lift my mood. All of the sudden with about .5 to go I saw a girl in front of me...I had no idea she was there! I tried to reel her in-but she was still too far..She ended up beating me by 14 seconds) (Even though my last miles were so slow I must have gained on her) My final time was 1:27:54 (more than a minute and a half slower than last year's windy race)
I usually LOVE racing, but today just didn't go my way...It was hard and my body and mind weren't on cue..I know the wind took it out of me physically and mentally and there were faster girls today... I wanted to place so much higher and run so much faster but I will just chalk this one up to a race to learn from and move on....I think I need a little break so I plan on no running for at least a week, maybe longer..
On a positive note I got to cool down with Melody from the blog who placed 2nd!. I know she was no where near the time she wanted to be either and reading her blog reminds me of how I felt during the race also:) (Too bad I don't live in Utah anymore-she would be an awesome training partner- She is a strong runner and I am sure she will do awesome at Boston!)
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