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April 21, 2005
Thursday Night "Race"
After quite a bit of thinking, tonight ended up as participating in a race instead of doing a track workout. The race tonight is one that I have always liked to participate in, there are always terrific prizes. Don't get me wrong, I don't do every race based on prizes, but the prizes can make or break a race. This race does go to a good cause, and it does not terribly alter my week as far as workouts go. J always gives me a hard time for participating in this race because the course is hilly and has lots of turns. Basically it is a slow course. We have determined that it is about 30-40 seconds slow. The only reason I was given permission to run in the race tonight was that the course was changed and we thought that it was going to be relatively flat.
I had a tough day at work and did not get to eat my lunch until late, which was OK because the race did not start until 6:30 (actually later, because they always run late). I took a longer nap than usual and then headed over to the race. One of the things that I like about this race is that it is close to home, only about a mile away. My legs did feel a little bit tired during the day, but not so much that it would make a huge difference during the race.
I got to the race, registered, and found R, the only other person from our group who showed up. A whole bunch of other people from the group had talked about racing, but R was the only one who showed up. We warmed up the course and saw that it was pretty darn hilly. It started with a short, steep uphill, then down a longer hill that was just as steep. We turned onto a road that is a long gradual uphill and part of my daily loop. Then there was a short loop with some rolly hills and back down the gradual hill. The ending was up the steep hill and down the hill again. The last uphill was an absolute killer.
The race was pretty uneventful. I didn't feel bad and I didn't feel good. I think that I went through the first mile right around 6:00. Some guy outkicked me on the downhill into the finish. My final time was 19:12, which considering the hills is not too bad. I also did not cut back at all this week. I ended up being the first woman and 7th overall. My prize is 6 bottles of wine from the best wine shop in the area, a book on wine tasting, and two wine glasses. I think that I'll pick up my wine sometime this weekend. R finished in 20:20 which is close to his best. We warmed down for about 24 minutes and called it a night.
Tomorrow I am not running at all. I have a massage scheduled right after work. My legs are crying out to get rubbed down. It will probably hurt so badly, but it is much needed. After that I have to do a Trader Joe's run and stop in to visit my grandmother on the way home.
Posted by Blondie at April 21, 2005 09:07 PM
Comments
Great race and really great prize! I'll say that was worth 19 minutes of running... :) Enjoy your massage tomorrow!
Posted by: Beth at April 21, 2005 10:04 PM
Nice race/workout! That's a lot of wine. Don't drink it all at once :-)
Posted by: Alison at April 22, 2005 07:16 AM
Congrats! "Enjoy" the massage ;)
Posted by: Nanda at April 22, 2005 11:00 AM
Wow that is great Blondie! Great job in the race. And that is a sweet prize!
Posted by: Barb at April 22, 2005 01:29 PM
Yeah, awesome prize and great win!
Posted by: Audrey at April 22, 2005 03:08 PM
wow what a super prize. i believe the napa marathon gives the winner of the event their weight in wine... (but that's a long way to run for wine!). your race distance sounds much more doable. having not tapered blondie, and considering the difficulty of the course (it sounded really tough up and down and up and down!) and your hectic day --your effort and results sound solid. good job.
Posted by: liz at April 24, 2005 07:24 PM