Here are a couple of short race reports so far this year. My first one is from Market to Market relay May 9th, 2015. This is a relay “race” that goes on the trail system from Jefferson to downtown Des Moines. Some colleagues asked me to be on a work team and since I had never done it before so sounded like a great idea. Each person runs 2-3 legs which have a distance of 2.5 - 6 miles. I wasn’t sure how riding around in a van all day with coworkers I didn’t know well was going to work out for me and my legs but gave myself a pep talk and ended up having a really fun day (yes, day as it took just short of 11 hours). The total distance for the day plugged in just right for my Dam to Dam half marathon training.
Race morning it was a whopping 45 degrees when we arrived to Jefferson. I was actually pretty happy about that as I prefer cooler running weather and had asked for an earlier start in the legs. Our first runner went out in the 7am wave and we followed the train of vehicles to the first transition point. I was runner number two with a three mile leg and my goal was to have a strong run at under a nine minute mile pace. It was a pretty flat stretch along the trail surrounded by farm fields. I felt really good and ended up going an 8:35 minute mile pace which was quite fast for me. By the time the third runner was finishing his leg the sun was coming out and it was starting to warm up.
We spend a lot of time traversing back roads with me navigating the route for the team. I had done a clothing swap at the transition point between the 3rd and 4th legs which made me more comfortable. I had some food and hydrated. It was going to be a few hours before my next leg. I did end up getting a short calf massage from a massage school at around the transition point between the last two runners which helped with some tightness I was having.
My second leg was after noon and it was a five mile stretch. By then it was in the low 70s and starting to feel a bit warm. I still pushed myself outside my comfort zone a bit but tried to negative split the last couple of miles. I ended up having around 9:30 minute miles which was really good for me for the length. Overall my teammates and all did better than we expected and ended up having a lot of fun. Unfortunately that was the end of my quality runs for a while as the stresses of my life in the spring (work, kids, travel, conferences, and training) were starting to catch up with me.
On May 30th I did Dam to Dam for the first time since it changed from a 20k (12.4 miles) course to a half marathon course (13.1 miles). I liked the 20k course better, not just because it is shorter. Here is a quote from one of my teammate's blogs that seemed fitting for this race... Sometimes the day doesn’t go as planned, and you simply need to Take What It Gives and make the most of the situation.
My split times are off by about ⅓ of a mile because I got over excited and started my watch at the gun rather than the start line. We shuffled to the start from the 10 mile pace sign which is why the first mile is so slow. I did this run with hubby Joe. Since he had a bad bike wreck in late April he didn’t have the run distances in he needed and was still having some hip pain so we weren’t sure how long we would run together. We were both shocked at how fast our first couple of miles went and we were both feeling pretty good (he had a watch that he started at the starting line that worked until around mile four when it malfunctioned).
I didn’t follow my normal race nutrition plan and I payed for that a couple of times during the race. Generally I take on water at every other water stop and gaterade at every other stop that it is available. I also carry honey stinger gels to use at the start of the race at around mile 6. I ate a banana and used a gel and water about ten minutes before the race started but didn’t follow up at mile 6 like I normally would have. Not sure why I did this… maybe to take the pressure off needing to have a fast race as I wasn’t sure how things would go at the onset.
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| Photo Credit Greg G. |
I did have a little surge around miles 8-11 but couldn’t hold it for the last two miles. I am guessing due to lack of electrolytes/caffeine/mental acuity… all of the above. Needless to say that was my most lackluster finish of any of my ½ marathons which left me a bit disappointed. My coach, a few days later, said the expectation would be to have my fast race at the end of the season so I will regroup and reassess leading into my ½ ironman in September and ½ marathon in October.
My Stats - 2015 - overall place 1760 age group place 191, 50:08 5-mile split, 1:14:52 8/9-mile? split 2:19:15 gun time 2:12:42 actual start line time
Splits - 13:31 (gun start not starting line), 9:17, 9:45, 10:12 (stopped for a few to help Joe with a contact malfunction), 9:30, 9:59, 10:02, 10:08, 9:33, 9:37, 9:39, 9:58, 10:08 ave split pace 10:10
Stats from Dam to Dam 2012 - overall place 1984 age group place 336, 1:00:12 10k split 2:07:03 final, overall 10:13 (pace)
So with that I leave you with someone a bit more inspiring of an athlete that I am. http://multisportmastery.com/ironman-texas/
