aka my off season has officially started after this massive butt whooping!
I signed up for this race a few months ago with a friend, we ran it last year together. This year I thought I’d be more prepared and would be able to rock out the course (it’s a fairly hilly course). Well I guess my body had other plans.
We got to the race site and grabbed our bags before walking a mile to the race site. My mom, sister and better half came and Eileen (the friend) brought two of her nieces, one was racing and one was watching. We had about ten minutes to stand around, chat, warm up and stretch before horn was blown (it was a small local race).
The runners: Grace, Eileen, and me
The support: Britney, Anna, my mom and my sister
Mile 1: 10:14
I stayed with Eileen during at the beginning and I thought we were moving at a fast pace, and I’m sure we would have been but on this hilly course we only pulled out a 10:14 first mile. I was definitely feeling my laziness from the past few weeks but figured I would be able to survive.
Me and Eileen surviving mile 1, Grace was way ahead of us.
Mile 2: 9:58
Obviously I stared feeling stronger this mile, I kept picking my feet up and would lean into the hills to get up them. Eileen dropped me (hey, she’s a really in shape 42 year old!!) half way through this mile but I managed to keep her within site. My head started slipping out of the game and I knew the last mile was going to be bad…
Mile 3.1 11:13
…And it was. Somewhere along the way I started falling apart. My head wasn’t in it, my heart wasn’t in it and my foot certainly was not happy with me. I admit I walked a bit because I knew it wouldn’t do any more damage than running really slowly. Just before the 4K mark I caught up with Grace (Eileen's niece) before getting my traditional end of the race strength rush to pass her and finish decently strong….
Finishing… unofficial time: 31:25…not good!
…and tumbling. (Notice my mom rocking the MJ one glove look, my sister was wearing the other one)
…before tumbling to the ground. I was exhausted and apparently ridiculously out of shape. My butt was handed to me on a silver platter at this race. Point taken, running, point taken.
Eileen’s feeling on finishing up hill…sums up my feelings too!
I’m home for the turkey holiday this week and am sure my motivation to work out will be nill (I’ll just try extra hard not to eat AS much as normal), but I will be doing some triathlon homework: Reading the Triathlete’s Training Bible since I’m going to write my training plan for next season.
Have a happy Turkey Day and good luck to those racing in IM COZ!
That sounds like a good time for a hilly courese! Have a great Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteI love the MJ look but it really needs more sparkle to really make your mom look cool.
ReplyDeleteJust think by the time Racine Half rolls around...5k will be your warmup
Thanks for the nice comments on my blog... yeah, my race reports are a bit, err... long winded :) But - the great news - is that with NO IM, I'll be racing a lot more and THAT makes me happy.
ReplyDeleteOkay - first I've got to give you MAJOR kudos for going to school AND doing triathlon. That is hard stuff... and working in a lab is tough. But keep it up - your future self will thank you :) On that note, no worries on the 5k - its the off season, hilly courses are tough, and any chance that you can to get out there and just do something is great. Things will pick up next year while you build for Racine. So the down time now will only serve to help you get stronger and faster for next season.
And HOLY COW - I LOVE the turtle pumpkin (that is a turtle - right? Or are my eyes just deceiving me?) - that's awesome! :)
Keep up the great work! Have a GREAT Thanksgiving!!