It's been quite awhile since I've done a road race. I've been racking my brain trying to remember what race it was and I think the last one I did was a 10k road race in January of 2010...So it's been awhile.
I was excited going into this race to see where my fitness was, since my training has been going very well. I have Erich Wegscheider to thank for that. He has been coaching me since October, and I feel I have been responding very well to his training plan. I am very grateful to have been put in touch with him. Now to the details of the race..
This morning when I got up, which was about 6:00am, it was fairly windy and rainy out. I was hoping that it would die down some by the time I was to start my race, as it was also about 48 degrees, which actually isn't too bad to race in. But throw in some wind and rain and it can get miserable real fast. To my benefit, the weather cooperated as I wanted it to. There was no rain and a very light breeze, and it was, of course, still cold. However, after I did my warm up the temperature was just about perfect. I did an easy 15 minutes with some speed accelerations through it, and was feeling good. It was now that time to line up for the start.
There was already quite a mass of people already lined up. I don't like to start a race in the back so I just placed myself up in front, which was no problem, there was plenty of room! I was standing next to this girl waiting for the officials to send us off, and I got the feeling that she didn't really like me standing next to her. You know those people that you try to be friendly and they just don't want any of it. I don't know, maybe it's an intimidation thing? Anyways, after we stood for about 5 or so minutes waiting for them to send us out, we were off.
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I was right about the girl. She bolted out to get in front of me along with some little kids (they're always so cute!) and I tried to go around her but she kept cutting me off. So I swung out to get up ahead. She stayed with me for a little while, but I knew I had to drop her within the first mile. And that I did! She wasn't too far back. I could still see her out of my peripheral when I would look to the side to see how far back she was. Towards mile 2 she started to close the gap a little bit so I started to pick it up. I was not going to let her catch me! Once we hit mile 3 I was feeling pretty good so I picked it up more and by that point I knew there was no way she would be able to catch me. She didn't finish too far behind me, as I was still in the finish chute when she came through. I turned around to say good job and shake hands and I got the feeling she didn't want to but did anyways. It's always good to have competition. I have her to thank for pushing me today!
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| On the home stretch |
I ended up finishing first female overall for the 5k with a time of 19:19. I was very pleased with my time. Considering that I was unable to run that fast all season, and then I run that time without any speed workouts! So now I am really excited for next years triathlon season :D
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| Just Finished |
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| Refueling |
I must say, overall winners get pretty good awards. I got a $50 gift card to Nike, along with a pint glass (that everyone else got as well). The gift card didn't last long. Since we were so close to the Nike store I figured I might as well use it now. Of course, being that it is Nike I was only able to get one item, which was a pair of flashy running capris... I think capris are one of my favorite garments.
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| My Gift card |
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