Race day today. I got up early and headed down to Provo and watched Sarah and Sasha's children while they went on a running date. At 10 a.m. I met Marion at the park and we got our numbers and did about 1.8 miles warmup on the trail and then did some strides before the race started. I was feeling pretty warm, so stripped down to shorts and a short sleeved shirt. I regretted that during the race - wish I had kept on gloves at least because out of the sun it was cooler. The 5K and 10K both started at the same time. It think there were 3 people running the 10K and Marion's main goal was to beat Sasha getting done (he was planning a 33 minute run). The race starts out in a parking lot and then you take the sidewalk for a block or two and have to loop around under the road. That loop slows you down both going out and on the way back in. Once you were on that loop - the rest of the run was on the Provo River Parkway. That is good and bad - good because there aren't a lot of cars - bad because we had to dodge casual runners. Marion and I started off well and finally settled into our pace. We might have gone out a little quick, but it is hard to tell. She kept in contact with me until the end of the first mile and then I started surging ahead. As usual - the first 1/2 to 3/4 mile is awful because the body has to come to the conclusion that you are not going to let it stop running that fast. That trail there is also quite undulating, so you don't get any great places to get comfortable in an uphill, downhill or flat section. I passed the one mile mark at 9:04 with Marion right behind me. Going into mile 2 I could hear Marion drop back and then couldn't hear her breathing anymore. I swear all the uphill sections on the way out were also uphill on the way back. Shortly after the turnaround point I high fived Marion and pointed out to her that she was not in last place - she didn't want to finish last and there were several people behind her. Mile 2 was also in 9:04. I felt at this point in time like I was out of gas and regretting the extra miles I put in last night. I did keep trying to put on some speed anytime I noticed myself slacking off. The last mile was a struggle. I could feel my breathing getting raspy and was almost wondering if I was having an asthma attack. I seriously wanted to give up and slow down a little and run with Marion, but I kept going on. It was nice to pass the 1/2 mile left marker. The loop back to the sidewalk was a pain, but I was actually starting to get a tiny bit optimistic that I might PR. My 3rd mile was 9:17 - so I can tell I was struggling. I swear as I got back into the parking lot that my body was in slow motion. And I was trying to hard to PR, but heard that previous mark just before I crossed the line - I was 2 seconds slower. However, I felt that this was a tougher race than the one I pr'd in and Sasha seemed to agree on that one. Grabbed a quick glass of water and ran back to the end of the parking lot to cheer Marion in and motivate her for that last sprint. I was very proud of her. No age group awards were given out, even though MaryAnne advertised them. I won my age group solely on the basis of being the only person in it. I think Marion did pretty good in her age group - we will have to see when the times are posted. After talking with Sasha a bit, we ran down the Provo River Parkway towards BYU and then I showed Marion where the Pachev gang lived and we visited for a little bit. I was pretty tired and Benjamin was thoroughly trouncing me in chess when Marion finally pried herself off the couch. Hot chocolate with Marion. Then I raced home, took a quick shower, we headed off to the Draper Temple Open House and dinner (dad, sis and me) and just got home. Earlier I was going to do more mileage tonight, but I am tired. 5K's - good on speedwork, but tough on the body. My lungs are almost as tired after a measly 5K as after a marathon because I have to breathe so hard.
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