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June 22, 2005
Race Was Fun
I didn’t work out this morning so got to sleep in until 8. (Even though I woke up at 5:15 AM anyway, decided I couldn’t sleep, ate breakfast, got on the internet, and then decided I needed a nap, so slept for two more hours.) It was fabulous to catch up on some much needed sleep from the lack of it this weekend. I also drove to work (a luxury b/c of the pricey parking) since I needed my car for the race tonight so I didn’t have to commute on the bus for an hour!!
The race was fun. I ended up running 30:29 for the 4 miles…which I think is a pace of about 7:37, right? *Note, post-race the race director mentioned the course might have been short. Regardless, I am very happy with my time. It’s the fastest I have moved since starting up again last month.
What I am NOT happy about is how much of an idiot I am! I ran the first mile (if measured correctly) in about 6:48. Um, yeah, I was a little excited-even as I was freaking out b/c I knew it was too fast. How did I know even before the first mile marker? Leilani, her husband, and the eventual female race winner were all behind me. I was literally thinking…this is so bad, I cannot believe Leilani (who is faster than me) is behind me-I HAVE to slow down immediately. But I didn’t because I was happy and excited to be running and racing. (And I was promptly passed ANYWAY by the three aforementioned people!) Mile 2 was close to 8 minutes as I got really tired (well, was dying). The course was mostly downhill on the way back and I guess miles 3 and 4 were quicker. I actually have no idea how to use the mile split function on my watch so I don’t know what they were. I was kind of hurting for miles 2 and 3 b/c I had started way too fast for me, but then got happy again for mile 4 since I was close to the end! What I am psyched about (in lieu of being psyched about my idiot start) is that in the last quarter mile I passed the only woman I could see who was about 25-30 yards ahead of me at one point.
Afterwards I met two friends from school (one of whom is visiting DC this week) and walked around the monuments for about an hour and a half. I was sore after the race, I was sore walking around the monuments, and I am pretty sure I am going to be sore tomorrow. My knee didn’t hurt while I was racing (race magic). My calf didn’t hurt either-though it was pulling funny when I was walking downstairs before the race and is kind of tight now. We shall see how it all feels tomorrow….
Posted by Audrey at June 22, 2005 12:28 AM
Comments
wow, thats speedy!!! awesome race!
Posted by: brent hopkins at June 22, 2005 02:15 AM
I'm glad you had fun in your race! Even though you were overexcited and slowed down, it must have been cool to know you had a 6:48 in you :)
Posted by: Barb at June 22, 2005 10:21 AM
That is such a ME race. I start every race by saying that THIS time, I'm going to run the first mile or two conservatively and it all goes out the window when the gun goes off. My PR for the mile, a 5:55, was the first mile of a marathon! Needless to say, the last few miles were in the double digits.
Then again, you ended up with a time you were happy with, so who's to say that's not an okay way to do it!
Posted by: chelle at June 22, 2005 11:25 AM
I'm glad you had fun in at the race last night. Pacing is tricky. I still get caught up in things that I shouldn't sometimes, but I have gotten MUCH better. My mile PR is from the first mile of a 10K, a lesson well learned. Hope that you weren't too sore today.
Blondie
Posted by: Blondie at June 22, 2005 07:24 PM
Yeah Audrey! How fun to be running/racing again and feeling good (especially on that first mile 'eh? ;)
I'm excited for you. I know the feeling of that first race after an injury and it's very fun indeed...
Posted by: Beth at June 22, 2005 09:35 PM
Audrey! How fun you got to run a race! I think I would do the same thing right now (going out way to fast), that's actually how I've been (stupidly) doing my "eaasy" runs right now since I'm just so excited to be running! (and yes, I'm out of air after 3 minutes!)
Posted by: Nanda at June 23, 2005 01:29 PM
Yea! That's a speedy race, Audrey. Glad to see you back in the races again. :) Race magic. That is so wierd about injuries going away during a race. I get that too.
Posted by: Jon in Michigan at June 24, 2005 01:46 PM