Race Report: Reedy River 10K

Pre-Race:

Woke up to some nasty weather. It was in the mid 30s and a cold light rain. Of course with very little expectations with this race, I was ready for whatever mother nature wanted to give me. My game plan was to take it easy as I would any other long run in order to avoid injury before next Saturday's half marathon. Of course knowing my long run pace is around a 12 min/mile, I was expecting around a 1:15 finish.

Woke up at my usual "work day" time of 6:30 and was out the door at 7:00. Arrived at the race start at around 7:40, got my number and tech tee (once again, it's unisex and way too big so Goodwill is getting another one) and went back to my car to stay warm until about 8:10. By this time, there was a nasty rain/sleet/snow mix that was just plain miserable. At 8:15, I stood in a line (all of 3 people ahead of me) for the porta potty then headed to the start where I did a very light jog and stretching to stay warm. I had on my fleece-lined pants (they are water resistant), long-sleeve tee, rain jacket, gloves and hat. I was slightly chilly at the start which is a good sign I was properly dressed.

The Race:

At 8:30, we were off. I started near the back of the pack and settled into my easy pace and pretty much just held it there for most of the race. The first few hills were nothing and I was able to get up those without any problems. The hill right before Greenville County used to give me problems but not this time but I ended up taking a walk break anyway because I was getting too hot and had to take off my rain jacket. It was just too warm, especially once the wintry mix had stopped. Not sure why I get so much hotter in a race then in a training run. Adrenaline perhaps?

After that, it was smooth sailing until I got to the first water station which was on a downhill (really?) so once again I slowed to a walk and grabbed some. I quickly got back into my easy pace  and breezed through miles 3-5. I definitely didn't have the struggle as I did in the previous two times I ran this race or the last time I ran through here. In fact those two flat miles through Cleveland Park seemed effortless to me this time around and I was feeling really good and even passing other runners (which this late in the race used to be very rare for me).

Mile 5 is where everything started to change and I ended up walking some up the two final hills. That last hill before the finish is awful and I did my best to conquer but only was able to make it about ½ way. But once I hit the 6 mile marker, I got back to running again and picked up the pace for a final kick for the downhill finish and cross the line in 1:09:56, a solid 5 minutes faster than I expected to.

Weather: 36° with 4 mph N winds. Rain/Sleet/Snow mix at the start. A very light drizzle during the race.

 

Race Report: Reedy River 5K

I ran this race with my brother, his 2nd 5K but first "real" race. We decided to start near the middle because I thought it would be a good place to start but boy I was so wrong. Even though it's in big bold letters in the email that is sent out that walkers should start in the back, they still started way up front. There were so many walkers and slower runners it took me nearly 1/2 mile to finally get into my race pace, but by then I was already way off my goal pace and had a lot of making up to do.

Shortly after we hit the first hill and was steeper and longer than any of the hills I train on, but surprising I flew up it  without breaking pace, passing others that already gave into walking. Mentally it was a huge confidence boost considering I'm normally the one getting past on hills. Once I got to the top of the hill, I saw my brother up ahead who got out to a faster start. I resisted the urge to run faster to catch up to him and instead stuck to my comfortably hard pace. I ended up catching and passing him on the second hill. By then, I realized this course is much tougher than I anticipated it would be but I was determined to give it everything I had no matter what. Every hill I would make it up about half way and then give into walking, my brother would catch up to me but there was no way I was going to let him pass me so I would start running again.

There was a nice downhill section and I took full advantage of it. I didn't slow down to recover as I normally do and instead sped up to keep the same comfortably hard pace. There were two more hills to get up and over but that last one, I thought my lungs were going to explode but there was no way I was giving up now. I glanced at my watch which read 29:29 with about a quarter mile to go. I knew I wasn't going to make it under 30 minutes but it didn't keep me from continuing the effort I had held all race long. Once I made the final turn and could see the finish line, I tried to go into a sprint but there was just nothing left in my legs. It felt like the longest stretch of road ever, what felt like 10 minutes was really only 90 seconds. I crossed the finish line 31:57, my brother right behind me 9 seconds later. I'm pretty happy with my time given I never previewed the course and had no idea how bad the hills would be and a significant improvement over January's 5K which was a much easier course.

Overall Results: 734 / 1,592

Women: 312 / 900

Age Group (30-34): 44 / 112

Run Report: Run with the Stoix

[caption id="attachment_967" align="alignleft" width="170" caption="© 2011 TRIATHLONARMY"][/caption]

I went into this run with my longest run being a 7.5 miler three weeks prior and then a 5K and 6 mile run leading up to this 9 mile run and this was my longest run since March. I wasn't really expecting for much but to just finish. I knew I was going to be slow and decided I was going to use run 2 mins, walk 1 min intervals.

The course was a 3 mile loop that we could do 1, 2 or 3 times and obviously I decided to go for the full 9 miles.I arrived somewhat late (hey, I hate mornings so yea, it was hard getting going) and arrived with just 10 mins to spare. I barely had enough time to sign in and pick up my beanie. The weather was foggy and in the low 40s. We quickly lined up and were off 5 secs later. The first 2 miles felt really easy and I even had to force myself to slow down at times.

[caption id="attachment_968" align="alignright" width="199" caption="© 2011 TRIATHLONARMY"][/caption]

Then 2.25 miles in, there was a monster hill on Washington Street. I tried my best to jog up it but 30 secs in, it proved to be too steep and too long for that to happen. Once I got up and over that hill, the rest was relatively easy. In fact, I felt really good for miles 4 and 5 but here came that Washington St hill again! Then all was good again for miles 7 and most of 8 but half way through 8 my hips were starting to hurt but I kept moving knowing it wasn't that much further and I was done! By the third time around, Washington St hill was painful.

That hill felt like a mountain and kept feeling like it was getting longer and steeper with every step. I could think about was just getting to the finish line and wanting this run to be done with as quickly as possible. So finally I crested the top of the hill and finished my 9 miler. It was slow but I got it done.

Mile splits =10:37, 11:16, 12:57, 11:39, 10:49, 12:54, 11:34, 11:52, 13:12.

Loop splits = 34:50, 35:22, 36:38