I woke up this morning having no idea what to expect. I really didn't talk too much about my hami issue because I really had no idea how the day was going to play out. Kendra and I ended up meeting up with the group in front of Rec Center and headed up on the bus.
After getting up to the start and going through our normal routine - I was anxious to start warming up to see what how my leg was going to feel. As soon as I started jogging I couldn't beleive that I wasn't feeling any pain. I seriously felt like it was a miracle. I just hoped it was going to continue feeling that good throughout the race. My goal was to start off really slow - 6:30 pace just to be safe, but since I didn't feel any discomfort I just went out with what I felt comfortable with. Here's how the race went.
1. 6:10 - Ended up running the first two miles with Mike B. Thankfuly feeling really good.
2. 6:07 -
3. 5:52 - Down to Baker Res. passed Marci J. and Jessica B. Dropped Mike B.
4. 5:50 - Felt really relaxed and smooth
5. 5:45 - Passed Amber G. - prayed I wouldn't see her on the Diagnal again.
6. 5:42 -
7. 5:41 - Got my first water bottle, took 1st Gel.
8. 6:42 - Took it very easy up Veyo.
9. 6:15
10. 6:09 - Struggled a bit to get going. I felt like I was passing a lot of people. but I wasn't moving very fast.
11. 6:17 - Crested to top of the first hill and the Hami locked/ spazz-out up for a second. I just took a couple of deep breaths and told myslef not to freak-out. I knew once my muscles start doing this it's almost impossible to get it to stop.
12. 6:08
13. 6:21 - Hit the Half at 1:19:40 - 1 min slower than I origonaly wanted. 2 min faster than last year. Towards the middle of the mile I had to seriously crap so I just went off into the bush and let it all out. I even think I got a little on my shoes. Whoever was behind probably loved the show.
14. 5:53
15. 5:56 - Coming down around the valcano I wanted to go faster but couldn't go any faster do to keeping the spasms under control.
16. 6:00
17. 5:57
18. 6:01 - Muscles spasms started into the groin, and jumping round in my calfs and hami's.
19. 6:23
20. 6:14 -
21. 6:01
22. 6:21 - It seemed like the steeper the slop the slower I went. The downhill just made my legs spasm even more.
23. 6:28
24. 6:14 - Coming off of the steeper downhill I was able to get into a bit more of a rythem. But, still not fast enough.
25. 6:12 - Kept looking at my pace and telling myself I need to go - I just wasn't moving fast enough.
26. 5:56 - Went by the 1 mile to go clock and thought I might be able to pull off a sub 2:40, but didn't get going soon enough. I should have looked at my actual overall time earlier. I never looked at it, only my pace up until then.
26.2 5:38 - Gave a good solid push at the end. Made me think I could have started earlier.
Overall I'm happy with the race. I didn't get my goal time. But, considering the day before I almost backed out and 3 days before I couldn't run at all I was pretty happy with it. I was also happy that I was able to mentally work through the muscle spasms better than I ever have before. It still freaks me out with the spasms are jumping randomly through my legs but, I was quite a bit more relaxed about it this time. My only regret was I wish I would have pushed a bit more on the Diagnol. It's a bit flatter and I think I could have gotten my speed up a bit more through there without too many issues and mile 25 so I could have atleast broken 2:40.
I'm really happy for everyone else that did so amazing on both the men's and women's race team. I love working out with so many great people.
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