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February 13, 2005
Sunday Relay- & long cool down
Couples Relay-
Well--I reluctantly agreed to run the local couples relay with one of the athletes who I coach. He really wanted to see what he could run for the 2 mile race and I said, "well if you can't find a partner by Friday I'll run it with you...".
I was really tight during my warm up. Girls run first, Guys run second. Since I knew I couldn't really go all out I decided to test myself in this effort and just try to run somewhat conservatively (not pull anything) and run a smart race--run from behind and see how the race unfolds.
I got on the starting line--2nd row--and the race took off. A flood of girls took off! I thought...hmmm, they are going to die. I ran right behind them...overheard the 400 split 80 seconds and thought..wow they are going to run 5:20s...and then waited and by 1/2 mile had passed most of these runners.
I ran in 4th place almost the entire race. Two of my training partners were about 10 seconds ahead for the first mile! They looked great. A piece of me thought I should be up there but my tight hamstrings thought no way..i felt like i was running with lead legs. I went via the mile in 5:54. Aerobically that was fine. During the second mile the woman, a friend of mine in 3rd was slowing down, so I just made it my goal to catch her. Coming around the last corner I passed her and at the same time, another new friend of mine came flying by both of us. We all finished in 3rd/4th/5th around 11:51. A good run considering my week in training. My partner ran 10:57--a great time for him this early in the season and we ended up 4th overall. All in all it was very fun to see so many friends and I got to catch up with a bunch of people after the event!
After the very fun awards ceremony I cooled down with two friends and our dogs via the levies. These trails were perfect. We kept the dogs off leash ( i only had my whippet with me) and just ran easy (8 minute pace) and talked the entire time. We got about 8 easy miles in.
Posted by liz at February 13, 2005 12:49 PM
Comments
Liz, Sounds like a smart race. It would not have made any sense to push the pace when your hamstrings were tight. You had some solid workouts this week. I am really impressed. Great job! Your partner, N, ran a solid race too. The cool down sounds very relaxing. More soon... Hope you are resting!
Posted by: Mary at February 13, 2005 02:37 PM