Official Results:
Time: 50:01 (harrumph) (11:08 PR!)
Pace: 10:01
Placing:
Overall: 370/572
Gender: 185/352
Division (F 19-34): 82/159 (yikes, moving up an AG next year!)

Watch Results:
Time: 50:08
Pace: 9:51
Distance: 5.09 mi
Heart Rate: N/A

Goals:
A: 49:59
B: 55:00

Food:
What I ate for lunch: I had a late breakfast so I didn’t each “lunch” til like 5 – bagel with peanut butter, bagel with cream cheese
What I carried with me: Handheld water bottle, which I didn’t need and made me feel dumb

Gear:
What I wore: T-shirt, shorts, ball cap
Gadgets: GPS watch, fitness tracker

Discussion: This race went really well! Of course, it was like 58 F, so about 30 degrees cooler than the first time I ran it, which sums up my entire race experience. In 2015, I was training for this race specifically. This year, I’m training to run 12 times as long. In 2015, I was absurdly early to the race. This year, I got there moments before they were putting up the blockade (thanks to some ridiculous traffic). I placed 370th this year; in 2015, only 365 people participated. In both years, I finished as the 82nd woman in my division – but instead of finishing ahead of 16 people in my AG, like I did in 2015, I finished ahead of 77 people in my AG.

I don’t really have a whole lot to say about this race. I did about half a mile warm-up, thanks to being late, which wasn’t exactly my plan, but my legs didn’t feel as sluggish as they had before my rest day yesterday. I felt a bit sluggish during the race, but I’ve been taxing myself quite a bit lately with the increase in mileage, and I haven’t been trying to run fast basically at all. Maybe someday I’ll actually focus on trying to get faster at these short distances, instead of just hoping my general fitness has improved enough that I can see some improvement without specific effort.

I pushed myself, kind of, but I wouldn’t say I went all out. Not that I ever really give an all-out effort in middle-distance races. Again, maybe someday. But I am running a trail marathon on Saturday, so I couldn’t empty the tank. That would be stupid. Not that I am above doing stupid things. It was a fun race – I think I like this distance a bit better than a 5K. A 5K is nice because it’s over quickly, but I don’t like the challenge as much. I like the 5-10 mile range because it’s still under 2 hours (for me), but there’s more of a battle – and also more chance to course-correct if there’s a rough patch in the race. With a 5K, one bad half mile tanks the whole race.

After the race, I ran a 1.5 mile cool-down because I had nothing else to do. There’s only one road off the point, and it’s also the race course, so everyone needs to finish before folks can start leaving. My calves were a bit tight and my hip was a little sore, so I ran slowly and enjoyed the cool, misty weather. It was so quiet on the point once I got down by the airport – all I could hear was the lake. No cars, no other people, just waves. It was very pleasant. I sat in my car for a little while until I noticed cars starting to move (many people were lined up and waiting, cars running, for half an hour or more! Think of the environment, people!), then joined the queue.

I’m glad I did the race, but I guess that attitude could change if I have a disastrous marathon on Saturday. I’m taking tomorrow as a rest day, so I hope that’ll be enough. It’s a totally different event, with completely different strategy, pacing, and mechanics, so I don’t think it’ll be too much of a problem. Famous last words!