It was a nice fall day – sunshine but a little on the chilly side – but I could have done without the wind. Windy conditions are about the only weather I can say I “hate” running in. Rain and snow can be fun. With the right running clothes both cold and hot can be overcome. Hats were made to block the sunshine. However, there is nothing you can do about the wind and it seemed that not matter which way we headed Sunday, the wind was headed straight toward me.
We started the race and I felt alright. Racing/running in the afternoon isn’t my favorite; it just isn’t the time of day that I prefer. I fought the urge to chase people down as they paced in the first mile and told myself that I’d have my revenge eventually. “Push not too hard” was what I kept telling myself.
For the first two miles we ran down a nice tree-lined street. I found my groove by mile 2 and told myself not to let any more people pass me at that point. I also told myself to hold off on chasing anyone down; “just keep it steady, B.” I ran those two miles in 17:16.
By Mile 3 we are heading out of the tree-lined town and hitting some more hills. I’m able to sail up the hills without much pause and even started passing some people as I made my way through Mile 4 in 17:24. I’m running a little slower than I had hoped so I give myself permission to start chasing people down.
I hit the halfway mark with an 8:06 Mile 5. Now that is more like it. I sipped/chocked down a gulp of water from the aid station, zoomed past three women I had my eye on and picked my pace just a smidge in order to ensure that I stayed ahead of them.
Mile 6 came up quick but I was a little surprised to see that my pace for that mile was 9:18. I felt like I had kept it even but I guess not. I made it my goal to hit the 7 mile mark in 1 hour but with that slower Mile 6 I knew I probably wouldn’t make it. As we approached Mile 7, I was surprised to look down and see 1:00:52 on my watch. If the Boston Qualifying times can give you an extra 59 seconds to make the cut-off then I’ll take those 52 seconds and consider it a 1 hour 7 miler.
The one hour mark was important because I knew I had hit that mark last year at the 7 mile marker and I wanted to be ahead last year’s time. It was at this point that I knew I was going to have a tough time beating last year’s time of 1:26:44. If I ran the remaining 3 miles at a 8:30 pace, I could do it but I was getting tired and even when I made the next turn, the wind was still blowing right in my face.
The final three miles was a straight shot with some small hills as we approached the stop lights. I had my eye on two women ahead of me. One, in a white top wasn’t that far ahead of me and I knew I could pass her in the next mile and the second was in a blue top and seemed very far away. I picked it up and passed white-top-woman and told myself to just settle in and not let anyone pass me – blue-top-lady was just too far ahead. However, as we made our way passed Mile 8, which was a 9:20 mile, I knew I needed to dig deep and pick it up if I wanted to beat last year’s time.
Oddly, I started to feel great. It was the only time during the race that I felt like my pace clicked. I was cruising along and blue-top was getting closer and closer. At first I told myself it was too early to kick but as she got closer to me I knew I didn’t want to rein myself in. I just let it go and smoothly ran past her. The next runner was barely a speck in the distance that I didn’t have a prayer of catching. I told myself to think of blue-top lady as the #3 female runner and I just had to stay ahead of her if I wanted to place. I have no idea what my ranking is among all the other women out there and had no idea then but it worked and gave me a fun motivation to keep pushing.
I hit Mile 9 with a 7:30 mile. It was my fastest mile all race and I knew that pace wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) last. I just hoped that I could hold on long enough to get across the finish line before blue-top lady kicked it in. I couldn’t feel my legs getting heavy and for the first time during the race my breathing was getting very heavy. I knew I had better get my butt across the finish line soon.
Finally, I saw it – at first, just a speck in the distance – and then I got closer and closer. I didn’t dare look behind me for blue-top because even if she was right behind me trying to kick past me I didn’t have anything in me to fight her off. I didn’t want to know. Finally I saw the clock and it read 1:25 something. Just push, I told myself. Come on – 1:25 something is at least a whole different number than 1:26 something.
There really wasn’t anything left in me. I came across the line was an 8:47 final mile, with a recorded final time of 1:26:10. I’ll take those 30 seconds. A PR is a PR. I was the 36th person to cross the finish line.
Once again, it was a fun race because I got to run with my family and hang out with the family again. The second place finisher for Females 25-29 was a nice touch.
Pros:
Nice day for running (even though it was windy)
Plenty of subs/food/water/Gatorade at the end
Cons:
No chip timing
Course is open to traffic (I nearly got squished by an RV making a right-hand turn)
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