I'd roped the roomie into this a few months ago when she stopped running and I figured a carrot at the end of the stick would get her back on track. She's eating amazingly well, so keeping up with exercise that she kicks butt at just means she looks even HOTTER while she's on the prowl for Mr. Right!
Her longest run (before today) was 6 miles, and I might have freaked her out by explaining that the hill we were running down at the beginning was the exact same one we'd be climbing up a the very bitter end...oops! But let's not worry about that! We took our pretty picture at the beginning (race day braids, ftw!) and watched the half-marathon'ers take off.
15 minutes later, we lined up and jostled around for prime starting spot. We should've jostled more, because we definitely got stuck behind first time 5k'ers who didn't realize people would be breezing past them instantly. Oh yeah, did I mention there was a 10 AND 5k component to this race? Anyway, once we got into our own happy pack, down the hill and onto the greenway, it was amazingly smooth sailing. There were mile markers, happy cheering volunteers, and lots of water stops and port-a-potties! <<deep sigh of happiness>>
The route went from "and now, we RACE!" to "lovely Sunday run on a greenway" after the 5k turnaround. All 3 distances were on the same path, they just turned you back at different points. So many of the distracting people- super bouncy, insane pronators, stiff legged- turned back at the 5k mark, thank heaven! You can only run behind them for so long, darnit!
After our very own turnaround, and by the world's most unenthusiastic spectators, I lost the roomie for a bit. I knew I had the fuel in me (or on me!) and that 6.2 was nada after 13.1, so I opened up a little, saving enough for the hill on the way back. Roomie and I ended up entertaining the bored spectators and she caught up to me about a mile after the turnaround. Seeing the mile markers for the half kept us motivated, we walked through the 2 water stops, and life was GRAND...until we got back to the hill.
I'm still not sure if she was there when I told her "slow and steady" or if I was just talking to myself, but I definitely cut wayyy back on pace, focused on keeping my steps tiny but still coming, and just stared at the asphalt in front of me. Hooray for roads with minimal cantor , so I could find a groove in the road and just stay in that to keep me on the most efficient path up the hill.
The heavy breathing woman that came up the hill beyond me knew the fine Raleigh police officers that were keeping cars from running over us, and we exchanged as many words as our out of breath bodies would let us- "great job!" "almost there!"- and I just. kept. moving. My goal was to NOT let any of the half marathoners pass me, which was a definite probability, given their 15 minute head start and my 10+ min pace. I heard the guy on the microphone that the end of all good races have, and was actually sad that the finish line was so hidden, because as soon as I saw it, sprinting to it was the easiest thing in the world! We estimate our finish time was around 1:07, since the clock started with the half marathoners and our "gun" was 15 min later-esque.
I was able to get my water and in position behind the finish gates in time to get out my phone and snap a picture of the roomie coming across the finish line. She was super excited, also sad the finish line was so hidden, but started spewing some nonsense about doing a half next :) Oh, and we totally were cooled down by the time the first half finisher came across the line, phew!We asked some random person to take our "after" picture, walked back to the car, and generally reveled in our awesome Sunday morning. I can totally tell my right hamstring is going to be problematic if I don't baby it the next few days, based on how much its tightening.
Overall, GREAT race! Super excited to have my first 10k under my belt, and now its time to keep making hills my B**** before a very special race in 2 weekends :)
Here's to the next tv timeout!
-Syd
No comments:
Post a Comment