Current mood:
accomplished
This was my third 5 mile race of the year, the first being Johnson's International, a multinational race run in both Maine and Canada. It was pretty cool to be able run right through a border crossing! All three of my 5-milers have been quite humid. I'm not sure what the humidity was this morning but it's at 73% now and there's a lot more sun than there was earlier.
I set my alarm for 5:30 although the race didn't start until 8:00. I wanted to be up plenty early because I was planning to run to the start. I almost always race better when I have about a two mile warm-up no matter the race distance. I didn't manage to actually get out of bed until sometime after 6:00 and was out the door around 7:00.
On the way to the race, my legs felt extremely sluggish. I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to really race if that kept up but figured the best thing I could do to ensure that it didn't was to continue with my warm-up. When I arrived, I was handed a Powerade, which was nice because I could have used some more hydration. I walked over to get my ankle bracelet and then noticed how long the potty line was. I decided maybe I could wait until after the race but knew that I'd be pretty crampy if I did.
I walked around, did a bit of stretching and came back to the now even longer line. I got through it with 5 or so minutes to spare and took my place at the start. Having the Navy volunteers open the doors of vacant potties really helps keep the line moving and the most towelettes they provide are a nice touch.
I missed the first mile marker. No surprise. And wasn't at all sure about my pace. When I got to mile 2, I was at 17:30, faster than I expected. It seemed to take forever to get to the turnaround and there's always something a little goofy feeling about running around a cone in the middle of the road. Reminds me of ring around the rosy or something. Once I hit mile 3, I knew that I was still on track to run a sub-9-minute pace, far from my best, but something I haven't done in a while. By mile 4, it was certain; there was no way I was going to run my last mile in 10 minutes so I was a shoe in for a sub-45 finish. I stopped my watch at 43:43:45. My unofficial chip time is 43:41 for a pace of 8:44. For comparison, I ran a 47:34 at Johnson's (where Mike took a trophy for 3rd in his age) and 47:18 at The Rocks.
Nice job !!!
Thanks for stopping by today and commenting on my blog.
Nice time Katharine! And way to keep a secret to yourself. Sounds like just what you needed!
I'm so happy for you, Freaky!! That is a spectacular result - 4 minutes off your previous two 5-milers? Congratulations!
Promise me that if you decide to run a surprise race in NYC, you'll tell me so I can run it, too!
Holy crap!! you are having a running renaissance.
I'm so glad you are racing again!!! I was considering that Rocks 5 Miler. . . But I was way too sick to be racing that weekend. That would have been so funny if I saw you there.
Anyway, I was really happy to read this blog and that you are getting your speed back! :-)
The Rocks was a nice race. Good atmosphere/enthusiasm with the different ROTC groups.
Thanks! I'm working on it.
Sorry you've been so sick :(
way to go - nice job. wow running to a race - very interesting. most of my races are not local i'd be running 15+ miles before hand.
Thanks! Yeah, that would be a bit far :) I decided to walk instead of run home this time. I ran to and from last year.