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April 02, 2006
Sort of Disappointed (Again)
This seems to be a recurring theme anytime that I've entered a race lately. OK, that is only really twice, but still. I don't feel that my race times have at all reflected the training or level of fitness. There have been extenuating circumstances, but as far as I'm concerned, those are just excuses. I hate excuses.
Soooo, this morning was a small 5 mile race. Last week, J had called me and asked what I thought I could run for 5K, 5 miles, and 10K right now if I had to race. I gave my honest opinions, which were on the conservative side. This year's training has been based on strength more than speed so far, so being conservative was fair. When we talked about racing this week, we knew that the goal was not to run something along the same time as in Monday night's workout.
This race is only in it's second year. It was a big race about fifteen years ago, then it didn't have the support anymore. Someone within the community brought it back last year. It was one of J's favorite races back in the day and I can see why now. There were only about 80 runners this morning. We were greeted to brisk, somewhat cool conditions with a lot of wind. One guy said that he wasn't going to be doing all the work into the wind, he'd learned his lesson. Let's just say that the portions into the wind were quite stiff. The course was described as "flat and hills, moderately challenging". What the heck does that mean? It was definitely more than moderately challenging, it was one of the most difficult 5 mile races that I have ever run. I didn't look at my watch at all because I knew that mile splits would be all over the place based on the elevation profile. I don't completely trust the elevation map, because after running it, I know that it wasn't completely accurate. Anyhow, according to the map, the course climbed over 300 feet in the second mile. According to that map, the hill ended at the two mile mark, which it did not. Also, according to that map, it was mostly downhill from 2 miles on in. It wasn't. What was it really? The first mile was flat. The second mile was completely uphill, just like the map had indicated. The hill was sort of gradual at first, then it leveled off some, then it got steeper. It was the steepest just after the two mile mark. After we turned off the hill road, we had some downhill and it rolled for a long time. We still had some short and steep climbs until just before the four mile marker. From there on in, it was relatively flat to slightly downhill. Tomorrow I want to map it to see what the elevation is according to g-maps.
I knew going in that I wasn't going to PR. Five miles is a difficult distance for me to pace, I just can't seem to find the right pace for it. The course where I ran my PR may have been short, but my next two fastest times aren't that much slower and those courses were definitely legit. I honestly thought that I should be able to run around 30:45. I didn't feel great on my warm-up, but it wasn't that bad. I went about halfway up the hill. It took almost a minute and a half longer to go out than it did to come back. The two lead guys are on the same racing team as me, they were out of sight. The next two guys were in my sight the entire race, they never really got much further ahead than they were at the mile marker. I had some guy running wit me. He was ahead of me going up the hill, then he was right on my tail until the last mile when I opened it up some. Short story, I ended up fifth overall and first among the women. My final time was 31:53. P and I were talking after the race and he thought that the times were at least a minute slow. He ran a half marathon two weekends ago at a faster pace than he raced today. The hills and the wind definitely affected our times. I can see why J liked this course so much, he isn't the speediest but he is strong and very good on hills. I'm not nearly as good on hills, so this kind of course is harder for me to do well on. In short, if you take P's theory, I'd be right around where I thought I should be, but in reality I ran a minute slower. Theory and reality are two different things.
This afternoon, I wanted to get some easy running in since I scrimped on warm-up and warm down. It was perfect running weather. The wind died down some this afternoon, so it was nicer to run. I think that I ended up with about six miles that felt much better than this morning's race. My total for the day was 16 and 66 for the week, I think.
Bridget had asked if there was a marathon this year. The answer is no. Unlike the majority of bloggers, I have no love for the marathon. It has done some really awful things to me in the past. I don't mind the training, but the actual race has wreaked havoc on me in the past. There is a good marathon somewhere in me, but I'm not ready to do that to myself again. This year I have decided to focus on my goals for 5K, 10K, and half-marathon. Some of these goals are very ambitious, so it is going to take a lot of work to try to achieve them. If I get to where I'd like to be in those shorter races, my marathon will come. The other day they (they being J and a few of the guys who I train with) had a discussion that my best marathon will be well into my 30s and that I need to be patient. At one of our club functions it was mentioned that if I really put my mind to it, there is no reason that I can't run a marathon in the 2:50 range, but I don't want to put my mind to it just yet.
Finally, Barb ran a great Cherry Blossom. I can't wait to hear all about it. I'm not sure how Matt did since I don't know his last name.
Posted by Blondie at April 2, 2006 07:57 PM
Comments
Hey...Congrats on your win blondie...and good luck on pursuing your distance (but non-marathon legnth!)goals...should be exciting :)
Posted by: Audrey at April 3, 2006 11:56 AM
blondie, i really enjoy reading your blog and i have been lurking here for a long time. you have a lot of talent, heart and determination, and i have much respect for you.
congratulations on WINNING a race this weekend. you may feel disappointed with your time, but consider the lack of competition (from other women), the terrain and the fact that you didn't taper. you still WON.
you're a superb athlete but, like many runners, your perspective could be a little broader. please don't forget to appreciate what you have.
Posted by: finn at April 3, 2006 03:20 PM
That is awesome Blondie, even though you weren't thrilled with the time being the first woman (and running that time on a hilly course on a windy day) is a great accomplishment!! Good job!!
Thanks for the congrats :) I will write about it if I ever get back to Denver!
Posted by: barb at April 3, 2006 10:14 PM