How are the legs? I ran 50.2 miles six days ago. I took three days off and did and easy 2.1 miles on Thursday. That run included walk breaks. No real stiffness or soreness just tired. I am just here to get in a couple of miles and have fun. Small race with good raffles. I was going to run a few miles anyway, might as well join the fun here. I expect a 25-26 minute finish time.
My arches are fully recovered from the plantar faciitis of last winter. It was a year ago that they started acting up. One cause was too many miles in a different shoe. I love the feel of the Brooks Launch, but it does not have the arch support that I need. I have not worn them since the disastrous Portland Marathon of last October. But I wear them today for this short race. I promise that I will never wear them for long runs though.
When I arrive at the site, the flat roads near the airport, I see that the Army has sent a large force. Good thing they are not in my age group, I think. I am worried that it will be a jam up and a much larger event, but only a handful of soldiers will be registered runners. Most will start in the back and stay in formation, all coming in right at the 30 minute mark.
I see Tammy. Third race in a row where I have seen here. She wants to do a warm up mile or so. We have a half hour to the start and we set off at an easy pace. Wow, my legs feel much better than expected. I warm up easily and I love these shoes. I am able to get in some surges and sprints before the start. Everything feels great. I don't have a single part of me that is nagging or worrisome in any way. This is very rare. I might as well run as fast as I can and dial it back if anything comes up.
Start - We all line up and start right on time. Thanks to the city of Tumwater we should not get lost. Just follow the cones.
I am behind Mike Henderson. I am running way faster than I should. Small race with plenty of room to do my own thing. At about 0.75 miles I pass Mike. He stays right behind me though.
Mile 1 - 7:16 Mike has coached High School track and cross country for many years and now I am one of his students. He is encouraging me and advising me to relax my arms. "Don't slow down, just keep tapping away...tap tap tap".
Mile 1.5 - Aid station. I think about some water and decide that I probably do not need it. But then I see that my friend Tina is handing out cups. I take one, sloshing most on my face and shirt, but a little goes in my mouth. Gentle headwind and starting to slow. Gasping for air.
Mile 2 - Legs are fine, I just do not have breath. Mike still coaching me. Ugh, I did tell him about the 50 miles I just ran. Why won't he pass me and leave me alone! Then I could just ease back.
Mile 2.5 - I wish that I could just slow down, this is so hard. Nothing hurts and I am not quite at the pace where I think I will vomit, so I push on. In a way I am glad that Mike is with me as I know that I will slow if/when he does get past me. In fact he soon turns it on for a sprint to the finish and I try to go faster but simply can not. Another guy comes zooming past me and then it is the final turn.
Mile 3.1 - Finished. 3.08 on the GPS. 22:54 on the clock. Quite a bit faster than my last 5K in June, I am ecstatic about that finish time. It is so much fun to run fast, I really felt like I was flying for the first part anyway. Very unexpected. It makes me want to work harder to get faster and with my next marathon more than six weeks away, I do have time to work on faster paces.
Great raffle prizes but alas I do not win any. I do get a first place in my age group medal. So does Tammy. Strange age group groupings. There is a 31-33 age group. Mine is 45-50. Great to see Richard Olafson take command of the 80+ age group.
Next up, I hope to run the Over the Narrows 10 miler in two weeks.
22:54
13th place of 105
race#300
*****
4 comments:
I ran all of the 12 hour in Brooks Launch except ONE loop. I tried the Glycerin's after the marathon distance but they felt like bricks after the Launch. Put on my 2nd pair of Launch's to the finish. Crazy age groups! Maybe someone wanted to win an age group but needed a little "help." Nicely done!
I am resigned to the fact that in order to stay injury free I have do do most of my running in my adrenalines with custom insert bricks. I have tried weaning off of them a couple of times and it just is too risky.
I wanted to do this race so badly but I was swamped that day! I'm glad you had a good time!
Amy, I think that you could have won the women's race.
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