This race turned out a little better than i expected, so i'm happy with it. I woke up to pouring rain in toquerville, and was wanting to just crawl back into bed. I really wasn't looking forward to the race at all and was so tempted to back out. I knew i'd never forgive myself, so i got myself dressed and headed over. My tummy was hurting well before the race, but a few trips to the bathroom seemed to help.
It was nice for this race cause i didn't have a lot of expectations. I was going to focus more on the race, and less about my time. a p.r. is always nice, but i knew that with the wind blowing that would be a tall order. i knew michelle l.and amber g. would both be there, so i would have some tough competition.
i kept a lot of my clothes on (double layered again - i'm such a baby), and was amazed again at all the tank tops and shorts around me at the start. i'm still glad i wore what i wore, though i ditched my beanie halfway through. i was a little nervous about it but i decided to run withou my ipod today. i seemed to be distracting in my last race and wanted to see if it made a difference. I really liked it without. I felt like i could focus more on the race - see who was breathing hard - hear encouragement from friends, etc.
I spent a little too long talking to people at the beginning, and got less of a mile of a warm up in. I felt good after the gun went off though. we ran through a nice pile of mud in the first mile, and it seemed to slip some people up (i run in this junk all the time). my mile prob would have been a little faster without that. anyhow here's my splits
1 - 6:35 - stuck close to amber, michelle ahead a little bit - my body was feeling good
2 - 6:41 - into the wind but flat - usually amber wont let me pass her (love ya girl) but i managed to do it here
3. -6:31 - wind at side, slight uphill - I'm motivated to get some distance between me and girls behind me (amber and then a couple others not to far behind)
4. - 6:41 - more wind, up and downhill
5 - 6:40 - i know my pace isn't fabulous at this point, but again focusing more on keeping place
6 - 6:49 - some uphill
7 - 7:08 - the biggest hill of race - pretty gradual but long- into the wind
8 - 6:57 - turn around - amber still not too far behind
9 - 6:47 -
10 - 6:25 - i want to secure my position - michelle is not in sight anymore, wanted to take advantage of downhill - i'm starting to feel a little pukey - i think i hadn't drank enough water at this point - I loved seeing all my friends at the turn around! so motivating
11 - 6:49 - i held my position and wasn't motivated to book it in since i wasn't being challenged- had a side ache - my legs were feeling pretty good though
12 -6:47
13 - 6:37- I'm exerting effort, but prob could've done more if needed. side ache still there???
.27 - 6:50 - course was a little long, and i wasn't sure if i was running the right way. that is not a normal pace to kick it in for me.
so 6:44 pace - i'll take it today. Part of me wonders if i could've stayed with michelle, but i really shouldn't 2nd guess. I like how i didn't wait to fuel and felt like it helped. I need to drink more water next time and get there earlier to warm up. i also didn't cool down. overall good day though! | 