Lake to Lake relay!!!! I was looking forward to a stress free race day today, and hanging out with some fun girls:)
I started my day today at 5 am with very little sleep (thank u evan and isaac for your middle of the night play session that kept me awake). I dragged myself out of bed at 5 am to be at Ambers' by 6. We wanted to run a little before, but it didn't happen. We were too busy striping our faces, using our hair dye, and just getting ready. i loved how it looked at the end:) we were the red sheebraz (zebras - get it), though we did have people ask us if we were cats????? we must have been really drunk drawing on those whiskers.
so my team did so great that day! the start was fast, but kari kept up the ladies. brooke also ran a great split. we got a couple warm up miles in which made me happy. but by leg 3, amber had some work to do. she really put us in a good position - it didn't look like any teams were going to be too competitive. i just wanted to have fun, get some kills, and run some good tempo miles. i wore my ab wrap for my leg cause it was so downhill and those seemed to hurt it the worst. it did constrict breathing a little, but glad i wore it. i ran these legs last year in the same race, but my computer crashed sometime last year and didn't have the times to compare it to:( i do remember that on this particular leg i had averaged in the 6:20s, so i had a goal of beating that. this leg was gradual downhill, so i pushed myself a little. here r my splits
1 - 6:15 - a little uphill in there
2 - 6:07
3- 6:02
4 -6:09 - flattens out
5 -6:09
.19 - 5:37
6:08 average
I was pretty pleased with my splits cause it was pushing me, but i didn't get any leg tiredness. this really tells me that i'm already in a much better position than i was last year;)
michelle took it away and killed it of course. we were way ahead and everyone was looking good til leg 6. poor kari took a wrong turn, and ended up adding almost 5 miles onto her 4 mile leg. We knew after 40 min had gone by that something was wrong. we just had to sit and wait til she figured it out cause it was all on trail - we wouldn't be able to find her anyways. after 1 hr and 20 min, amber went looking. thankfully she eventually came in, but we had given up on the idea of first place. amazingly she had still kept her determination The next team had came and gone at least 30 min before then.
but there was always hope, so we started our second legs with new determination. Brooke made up some good time, and then amber busted out another great leg as well. we were gaining on people we thought had been long gone. By the time amber finished leg 8, we were back in 2nd place! The blue team had left right when we had gotten there, so they had a good 8-10 min on us still. i had the "hardest" leg, though it really didn't feel too bad. i drank a 5 hour energy right before and wonder if that helped??? not sure what the % grade on that was (at least 10% is my guess), but it was pretty steep - and bumpy! i did have fun trying to avoid sprain an ankle from all the deep ruts in the dirt. at one point on the hill i looked down and i was in the 6:40s. wow, wasn't expecting that. i didn't really feel the uphill til the last part of my leg where it has a longer hill that seems to have stretched on.
1 - 6:45 - up that hill - happy bout that;)
2 - 6:50
3 - 6:26 - rolling hills - still in the dirt
4 - 6:48
5 - 6:51
so average 6:43 - last year i know that was in the 7:20 range - though we did have wind then.
when i got in i found out that blue team was now only 3 min and 40 sec ahead of us. really! we were pretty sure michelle would catch her, but stacy (their runner) was holding her own and fighting for it. they started going around the lake and then we couldn't watch any more. in those last 2 miles, michelle beat her and victory was oh so sweet. the day had been so much more challenging and so fun! go team sheebraz!
i had some good talks with some great runners, and am inspired to do more and be even more committed.
first thing is, i need a training schedule. i don't know what to follow, or what to do this year. right now i'm focused on a getting a good time (and place) at the sand hollow marathon. yes it will be a pretty challenging course, but i think it's do-able. i don't know if a sub 3 hour will be possible on that course cause of the monstrous hill at mile 18, but i would love to get a 3:05 or better. that would be fabulous. 3:10 would be great. i am confident that i can beat my time at st. george marathon. 3 weeks baby!
secondly, after my chat with michelle and amber, i'm realizing i need to change my mental thinking about what's possible for me to acheive. i know sometimes i stand in my own way. i has some great splits today, and prob could have held that pace for a while. i'm going to work on setting higher goals and working harder for them.
soooo, im inspired and tired today - i need a nap. great day though
| 