Carrot Run

Actually had time to get a long run in this weekend instead of attending a dog show. Planned to run with my daughter. She needed to do 12 and I needed more like 15 but decided 12 with company would be good enough. Anyway, earlier this week I realized there was a 10k race scheduled on a bike trail not far from our home, and I suggested maybe we could do the race and then hang around and do another lap of the bike trail as a cool down. Combined with a warmup mile, that would give us about 12.

Susan agreed so we signed up for the race. The event is put on by a group called the Nutrition Council. This is their web site: http://www.nutritioncouncil.org/ . They promised that there would be a lot of good and healthy snacks post race, and about that more later.

The bike trail where the race was held goes around a municipal airport, public golf course and park. It's mostly flat, and a fairly boring place to run. Nonetheless, I have done a number of significant long runs there over the years, including some memorable 3-4 mile loops of the trail. But that was back in the day, as they say. Nowadays, I don't go there with the intention of doing more than one loop because I just can never seem to make myself get back out the second time.

So I knew this was going to be tough for us but figured with company it would be easier.

We did a one mile warm up prior to the race. Susan had never done that before a race, so she was skeptical, but I think she would admit now that it was a good idea. As for the race, we decided not to run together, but instead that I would run back towards her after I finished and then we would head right back out on our second loop.

So while I was saying when we signed up that I wasn't going to "race" the race, I had pretty much decided that racing was the only way to go. My goal was about 54 minutes, which according to all those little predictor tables translates into a 4:04 marathon---I need a 4:05 to BQ. So, about 8:45 pace.

But, my left knee has been acting up, and my right foot is not great. Plus it was unseasonably warm, all of a sudden. I mean, it went from about 11 degrees the other morning to over 70 this afternoon. And there was the subtle mental pressure of knowing that I was going to have to run another five mile loop after I finished the race.

So I wasn't going to run hard right from the gun, and blow the doors off in the first couple of miles. I was definitely going to run harder than I do on a training run, but nothing crazy.

They had a big crowd for this race and the bike trail is pretty narrow, so there was a lot of congestion at the start. I lined up with the pace team leaders for the 9:00 team. I could stay with them but it wasn't as easy as I might have hoped. First mile was 9:13, plus another 10 seconds to cross the start line. I was wearing my old water bottle carrier/fanny pack, and I've never worn it in a race before, and it felt a little snug. Second mile included the short, steep uphill. Time was 9:10, and I was beginning to wonder where the water stops were, and was glad to be wearing my fanny pack after all. It was getting warm and I realized I was overdressed in my capri tights. And though it was flat, there was a fair amount of wind.

Third mile was 9:04, and shortly thereafter I came upon the first aid station. Had some water along with a GU, since this was now mile 4 of my 12 miler, and I needed to fuel up.

Mile 4 was 9:23, and I'm not quite sure what happened except I guess I zoned out a bit. Mile 5 was 8:55, and just as I was thinking that this was a very sucky race with only one aid station, I found they did have a second one. I started to increase my pace and see if I could pass a few people. Mile 6 was 8:29. I did pass 5 or 6 people in the last mile and then another two in the chute before the finish line as they slowed down. Last .2 was 1:41, for a final time of 56:05.

So, not what I had hoped and not as easy as I had hoped, but not too awful. The plan was that I would try to grab some food and stash it in the car before running back to meet Susan, but I just could not deal with the thought of food at that point, so I immediately turned around and started my slow and painful jog backtracking the last mile of the course. This was a lot harder than I anticipated, but I was afraid that if I stopped I would completely stiffen up.

Finally found Susan, probably over a half mile back at that point, and could just barely keep up with her trudge to the finish. She finished in a little under 1:14. We took a quick look around for the promised "delicious" soup and bagels and other food items. All we really found were styrofoam cups of water and some sad bananas. Once again, a race fails to deliver good eats at the finish line.

So we stopped by the car so I could refill my water bottle. Susan doesn't carry water and she is really going to need to work that out before her marathon. Plus she needs to figure out the GU thing, or if it is going to be Gatorade for her or Gummy Bears or what. Anyway, I got more water. I also needed to change shoes. I had been wearing my Adrenaline 7s that have pretty much lost all their cushioning, and so I switched to my new NB 763s.

We had a hard time getting going but soon settled into a steady plod. For me, it was quite a dramatic difference from my earlier race pace, but for Susan it was not as much of a drop off. But since she hadn't pushed herself in the race, she was feeling surprisingly good and there was much less complaining than usual. So, while it took forever, it was overall a pleasant mother-daughter time.

Now just waiting to get the race results to see where I placed, and trying to console myself about not getting the 54 minute time and the reasons why. A BQ is not looking good for me at the moment, however.