Race Report - Park to Park Half

To say I've been unmotivated to train since the 10 miler is an understatement. I slogged through the last five weeks halfheartedly. I didn't even do the 11 miler on my program - it was pouring rain that day, so I did five that day, and five the next, and figured that was close enough. I did just enough to feel like I wouldn't totally bonk today. My main goal was to beat my previous PR of 2:29 and change. My realistic but gonna have to work for it goal was 10:30/mi. My realistic but really gonna have to work hard and race smart goal was 2:15, about 10:15/mi.

Yesterday was a crazy day, and certainly not the kind of day I'd like to have before a race. I didn't hydrate enough, I didn't rest enough, and because I needed to watch footage of the Royal Wedding, that I missed because of my crazy day, I stayed up too late.

But once I dragged myself out of bed this morning, I was in a surprisingly good mood this morning, and was ready to go. It was chilly, and I waited until the last possible second to put my long sleeved shirt into my drop bag which went into the official bag drop vehicle, a volunteer's Volvo wagon.

The national anthem was sung, and we were off. Unfortunately, the first few hundred yards were through grass that was sopping wet from dew. So I was cold and wet starting off. It took a good couple of miles to shake the chill, but the sun soon topped the trees. The course rolled through farmland, with some truly spectacular mountain views. I had a good rhythm going.

One of the great things about a small race is that people are so friendly and willing to talk to you. I had nice chats with some women, and we leapfrogged back and forth most of the race. I was concerned about going too fast too early, so I did my best to take it easy in the first half.

Around Mile 6, one of the volunteers shouted "you've got a mile downhill around the bend!" and I used that downhill for all it was worth, running my fastest mile of the race in 9:44. I knew there was a lot of uphill in the later miles, so I was glad to have some time in the bank.

At mile 10, I was pretty much toast. It was clear that I didn't have the training to really finish strong, especially when a strong headwind started blowing hard, just as we entered the most uphill portion of the course. I kept a pretty steady pace, though, and I crossed the finish in 2:13:56 - more than a minute faster than my goal, and more than 15 minutes faster than my previous PR! Not bad for feeling kind of half-assed about the whole thing.

Since it was point to point, I had to wait for the shuttle bus, and then endure a 15 minute ride back to the start while my tummy started complaining. I'm not sure why I'm having awful tummy troubles after races these days - I am off gatorade, and still having problems within 30 minutes of stopping running. Maybe my old standby recovery drink, chocolate milk, isn't such a hot idea any more. I'll go with soy next time around.

So what's next? I don't know! For the first time since last June, I have no races on the horizon. I'm planning on reclaiming my Saturday mornings for a while, hanging out at the pool, going to yoga, and otherwise having a lazyish summer. I'll still run, but only as the spirit moves me. I'm looking forward to coming back in the fall, ready to do it all again. Blog entries will be light to nonexistant on this semihiatus, but don't delete me from your Google reader. I'll be back in fine form soon enough.