April 12th - Highlands Ranch Run Series #2
Today Stef and I ran in the HRRS Heritage/Adventure 5K & 10K. I signed up for the 10K - my first. A couple weeks ago, I ran 6.2 miles on the treadmill, and my legs were killing me for days! Then, this past Monday, just when I was feeling well enough to start running again, I flew out to the east coast for work. My coworkers and I walked around the Mall area for about 2 hours one night, and the next I took advantage of the Marriott's awesome gym and ran about 3 miles on the treadmill. But since the trip was on my company's dime, I also took advantage of the per diem and ate big desserts and unhealthy meals (fish and chips - yummy!). I flew back late Thursday night, slept 4 hours, went to work on Friday, and felt fat and sluggish. So my goal for this race was to survive and hopefully beat an hour and 15 minutes.
Stef and I arrived at the location 45 minutes before race time. We joined the long line standing in the cold wind to get our bibs and goody bags. The Joint Juice truck was there again handing out free bottles and $1.00 off coupons. We grabbed several of each - they are good, and only 10 calories! Then we sat in our car for about 20 minutes to warm up. About 5 minutes before the 10K start time, I got in line. Then they delayed the start for 10 minutes, enough time to get cold again. I did get to talk to a lady next to me about her Garmin. I've been wanting a Garmin Forerunner 350, which tracks your speed, altitude, course, and has a heartrate monitor. She had a 250 and was telling me how great they are. Now I know what I'm getting with my stimulus refund! :)
Finally it started.... The first couple of miles were only a little hilly through neighborhoods and bike paths, and I didn't push it too hard, so it took me about 18:40 to finish the first two. The third mile was the worst. It was almost entirely uphill. I had to take a couple walk breaks, but I had already planned to so it didn't upset me. At the top of the hill, instead of handing out water, they had orange Gatorade. It really hit the spot! I met Stef at about mile 3.5, or about mile 1.5 for the 5Kers. The trail was fairly level for a while and along a dirt trail. It had snowed yesterday and the day before, so we were hitting patches of ice and snow, but the worst was the muddy dirt trail. It would stick to my shoes and make my feet really heavy. My ankles were also starting to hurt (yes, I desperately need new running shoes!). But then, soon after the mile 4 marker, I came around a bend and saw a long downhill section! I flew down it, pushing myself as much as I could while still catching my breath from the previous mile's hill. I finished the fifth mile in less than 8 minutes! It leveled off at mile marker 5, but I felt so awesome that I kept a fairly decent pace for the next mile, even up some small hills.
My worst section of any race is that last little bit - the last 0.1 miles of a 5K (3.1 miles) or the last 0.2 miles of a 10K (6.2 miles). For that last 0.2 miles, they rerouted us through the parking lot then across the snow-covered grass, up a hill, then along the sidewalk to the finish. I was struggling, trying to make that final push but also trying not to slip in the wet, icy grass. But I did it! They ripped the tag off my bib and cut my timing chip off, and I walked off with Stef, only then remembering to stop my stopwatch. It was at about 58:30 - meaning I finished in less than an hour! The race results haven't been posted yet, so I don't know for sure. We knew we weren't going to get any prizes (hey, you gotta be honest with yourself, lol) so we grabbed a couple more Joint Juices, a couple bottles of tea, and took off.
I accidentally signed up for another 10K tomorrow in Boulder. I'm feeling pretty good right now (about 4 hours removed from today's 10K) so we'll see tomorrow morning if I want to switch to the 5K or try the 10K again. As of now, I'm leaning towards the 10K. Next weekend we have two 5K's. I haven't set a goal yet, but maybe it'll be for less than 28:30....
Stef and I arrived at the location 45 minutes before race time. We joined the long line standing in the cold wind to get our bibs and goody bags. The Joint Juice truck was there again handing out free bottles and $1.00 off coupons. We grabbed several of each - they are good, and only 10 calories! Then we sat in our car for about 20 minutes to warm up. About 5 minutes before the 10K start time, I got in line. Then they delayed the start for 10 minutes, enough time to get cold again. I did get to talk to a lady next to me about her Garmin. I've been wanting a Garmin Forerunner 350, which tracks your speed, altitude, course, and has a heartrate monitor. She had a 250 and was telling me how great they are. Now I know what I'm getting with my stimulus refund! :)
Finally it started.... The first couple of miles were only a little hilly through neighborhoods and bike paths, and I didn't push it too hard, so it took me about 18:40 to finish the first two. The third mile was the worst. It was almost entirely uphill. I had to take a couple walk breaks, but I had already planned to so it didn't upset me. At the top of the hill, instead of handing out water, they had orange Gatorade. It really hit the spot! I met Stef at about mile 3.5, or about mile 1.5 for the 5Kers. The trail was fairly level for a while and along a dirt trail. It had snowed yesterday and the day before, so we were hitting patches of ice and snow, but the worst was the muddy dirt trail. It would stick to my shoes and make my feet really heavy. My ankles were also starting to hurt (yes, I desperately need new running shoes!). But then, soon after the mile 4 marker, I came around a bend and saw a long downhill section! I flew down it, pushing myself as much as I could while still catching my breath from the previous mile's hill. I finished the fifth mile in less than 8 minutes! It leveled off at mile marker 5, but I felt so awesome that I kept a fairly decent pace for the next mile, even up some small hills.
My worst section of any race is that last little bit - the last 0.1 miles of a 5K (3.1 miles) or the last 0.2 miles of a 10K (6.2 miles). For that last 0.2 miles, they rerouted us through the parking lot then across the snow-covered grass, up a hill, then along the sidewalk to the finish. I was struggling, trying to make that final push but also trying not to slip in the wet, icy grass. But I did it! They ripped the tag off my bib and cut my timing chip off, and I walked off with Stef, only then remembering to stop my stopwatch. It was at about 58:30 - meaning I finished in less than an hour! The race results haven't been posted yet, so I don't know for sure. We knew we weren't going to get any prizes (hey, you gotta be honest with yourself, lol) so we grabbed a couple more Joint Juices, a couple bottles of tea, and took off.
I accidentally signed up for another 10K tomorrow in Boulder. I'm feeling pretty good right now (about 4 hours removed from today's 10K) so we'll see tomorrow morning if I want to switch to the 5K or try the 10K again. As of now, I'm leaning towards the 10K. Next weekend we have two 5K's. I haven't set a goal yet, but maybe it'll be for less than 28:30....
posted by Kimberly at 12:57 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home