FALL CITY DAYS 5K - Garmin time 24:45 Low to mid 50s, cloudy w/ sun breaks. Mile splits: 7:45, 7:55, 8:02, (last .1) 7:54 Chip time now in: 24:37. :D
LOOK AT THOSE SEVENS!!!!! Never, in all my running have I seen 7's for more than about 400 meters. [Insert happy dance and unabashed grinning here.] It just amazes me that a warm up period can feel sluggish and so difficult at 11:20 and then a race can be run so much faster.
I'll have to come back later with some better details. At the moment I'm VERY happy, and slightly confused. Read on... I arrived early and had a nice, well timed warm up. 30 minutes of walk/jog, easy run, then drills and strides. Settled in around the start area five minutes before the race. So far, everything going great. But then, the minutes ticked on. I tried to stay loose and warm by pacing, bouncing, etc. but the race started over 15 minutes late! Gr. I should have listened to Jefferey and seeded myself further up in the start area, but other people always look so fast to me. (He warned me about getting boxed in at this race.) The gun went off and no one seemed the least bit interested in ceasing the chat fest and moving forward. When we finally did edge up to the chip mat, I found myself totally boxed in. "What have I done?" I'm talking about 12:00-13:00 pace and a wall of bodies. I must have panicked a bit, because after darting around people and trying to get up where I belonged the first mile was too fast! That would explain why I feel like my lungs are going to explode.
Fortunately, it was a very flat course, with just a wee rise to cross a bridge at the beginning and again at the end. The course is an out and back through rural territory, a tree lined road with fields on either side. When I started seeing the faster 5K runners coming back towards me, I tried to look out for other 50-59 y.o. women and I didn't think I saw any, but obviously I missed at least one. From the turnaround back to the finish line was just about hanging on and keeping my effort just below "blow out, burn up" stage. My lungs were searing pretty much the entire race. My legs felt good in the first half and tired but ok in the second. After crossing the finish line, I know it took me a moment to remember to hit "stop" on the Garmin (this matters later). I went to the recovery area and got a banana and some water. A woman who looked like she might be just a bit older than I was already there and I risked being rude by asking her age group. Same as mine. OK, so no first place. I'm still elated with going sub 25. When the results were taped to the side of a rock sculpture, I squinted at them (mind you, I lacked my reading glasses) and thought my chip time was listed as 24:37. Woohoo, thought I. The age groups were not listed, so one had to scan the age column to try to determine placement. That was a stretch for my presbyopic peepers, so I moved on. I got my sweatshirt from the car, cheered Jeff in on his 10K race, and hung around for the awards ceremony to see what might happen. "5K, Females, 50 to 59... First place... so&so, with a time of 24:27." Dang, she beat me by only 10 seconds! "Second place... so&so (who was NOT yours truly), with a time of 24:37." What? No one crossed the finish line anywhere near me except a kid who looked to be about 11 years old (darn him). I thought 24:37 was MY time. Are my eyes that bad? "Third place... [my name] with a time of 25:0h something..." No way. Even if I misread the results board, believe me, I have stared at the number 24:45 on my Garmin about 64,000 times since that dazed moment when they put a third place ribbon in my hand. And my chip time had to be shorter than 24:45, not longer, because I started and stopped the Garmin outside the time spent actually running the 5K. A time of 25-something is either gun time, or not mine at all. Has this ever happened to any of you fellow bloggers? It doesn't really matter. I am so pleased with my race and will just go back to staring at my 24:45 Garmin time until the facts are printed in black and white somewhere close to a pair of reading glasses. On a side note, I also saw many members from my new running club. How fun to have friends at a race! UPDATE -- my time was 24:37 after all -- yeah! That is a PR of 1:25! And my place was 3rd, also very respectable especially now that I know they got my time right. :D First and second place finishers in my AG were not that far ahead of me: 24:20 and 24:22. I am delighted!!
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