I drove up to Lewiston with the family to spend the night at Teren's sister's husband's parents house the night before the race. It was nice to be close to Logan when the race was at 7 in the morning. However, the kids didn't really like the change of environment,and took turns waking up every hour through the night. I only slept 2 hours consistently, and maybe two more hours very sporadically.
So, after a rough night, we woke up at 4 to eat and head out to the finish line to get on a bus up the canyon. Teren and I watched an amazing lightning storm, but luckily, the storm stayed away from the race.
I warmed up two miles in the canyon, and spent a few minutes on the start line catching up with Michelle L. I knew she would be a tough competitor since she is marathon training. Stephanie Talley and Mary Anne Schauerhamer were also at the start, so I knew the race would be competitive. I was nervous to run after a terrible night's sleep and a 50 mpw training schedule.
My plan was to work hard down the canyon, since I know I can run downhills strong,and then hope I didn't blow up. We had a nice pack of women through the first few miles, and I was very nervous when at the first mile I already felt like I was working hard. The "downhill" course was more rolly than straight down. After 3-4 miles Stephanie, Michelle, and I broke off and took turns surging through the canyon. (I'm sure Michelle has a more detailed race report.)
Every time I thought I was going to get gapped, I seemed to pull back into the race, and I maintained decent contact with Stephanie until 6 miles, and Michelle until 8-9. At 8 miles I decided to try a gu, since I will have to use them in a marathon. Not a good idea! My already sensitive stomach rebelled, and I really struggled the last few miles of the race. Miles 10-12 were pretty much a death march. I was well off of Stephanie. Michelle was in reach if I really pushed, but all I could think of was finishing and finding a bathroom. I worked the last 1.1, which thankfully was downhill, to finish 1:19:30 to Michelle's 1:19:02, and Stephanie's 1:17:58. I was pretty pleased, since I just had the tentative goal of breaking 1:20. I felt like this was my best race to date, and I am definitely encouraged.
A couple of things I learned from this race:
1. Sometimes you have miles where you feel good, and others where you feel terrible. I imagine this happens even more in a marathon.
2. Keeping contact with competitors helps you run faster! (duh!)
3. You can' t always control conditions before a race, so it's important to concentrate on the things you can control.
4. I need to practice with gu and fluids before I try that in a race again.
I didn't cool down since I spent a long time after the race in the bathroom. My problems have continued through the day. At least I know I ran hard! | 