Jogged over to Draper City Park from my house, about 2.5 miles. Did some strides and stretches, saw Sariah Long on the starting line and chatted with her. I didn't recognize anyone else, but could see there were some young, fast looking ladies.
Race went out fast. Angie Nickerson, a collegiate runner from SUU led pretty much the entire first two miles, while Sariah and I just hung on. I was in no position to be pushing the pace since I have not done more than 3 speed workouts this summer. In the final mile, muscle memory and eye of the tiger took over and I pulled in the lead despite the lactic threshold choking my lungs.
With a quarter mile to go, I was unsure if I could sustain the lead. I was dying. But when Angie crept up on my shoulder with about 100 meters to go, I gave everything I had left and barely held her off by a second or two for the win. Most exciting finish for me in a long time! My watch said my splits were 5:43, 5:28, 5:40, with a 4:44 pace for the final .1. Thanks to Angie for lighting a torch under my butt for that final sprint! Fun stuff.
Cooled down with a big group of ladies, basically the top 6 finishers. I was definitely the oldest one. Fun to get to know the younger ladies. Runners super cool people.
|