Sunday, June 3, 2012

Freihofer's Run for Women race report.

Yesterday morning was a wet one for the Freihofer's Run for Women 5K. I met up with Bridget and Sharon and we drove together to the race.

Yup. All in green! That's Sharon, Bridget and me (looking half-asleep).

We were there early, which turned out to be a good thing because it took forever to find a bathroom and then wait in line. And, after we did, we saw tons of porta-potties. With no one waiting in line. Of course.

Anyway, after hitting the bathroom, we met up with friends -- Tami and Melissa who weren't running (because, you know, two full marathons and a half marathon in the span of a month was apparently enough racing for them!) -- and then Gail and Darlene.

Before the race: Me, Bridget, Sharon, Darlene, Gail.
After the pics, I headed out for a quick warm-up and connected with my friend, Rebecca, who had trained a group of women to run their first 5K. She directed them to their corrals and then we lined up in our corral together.

The start area was packed, as usual. Rebecca and I had talked a week ago about trying to finish in about 22 minutes but we just weren't sure what the day would bring. She was coming off a bronchial issue and I was coming off the marathon. I'd only been running easy since the marathon -- could I still run fast?

Well, the first mile sure didn't give me any indication. It was crowded and Rebecca and I were weaving through the crowd, trying to find our pace for most of that mile. It was so much slower than I would have liked (7:51) but, no matter. The mile was run.

I told myself to push the pace in the second mile. Mile 2 of a 5K can be mentally tough -- you're starting to get a little tired but you still have two full miles to run. I did my best to focus and hold my pace and that's just what I did. I went through the second mile in my target pace: 7:05.

And then Mile 3. The third mile is always the best and the worst. You're almost done but you're also ready to be completely done. Now.

I pulled out every motivating phrase I could think of to keep myself going and repeated them over and over. It worked, because I ran the third mile in 6:51.

The last tenth of a mile is downhill. I tired my best to really run fast down that hill but, honestly, I was afraid of falling (it had been raining, after all) so I know I didn't let myself go as much as I should have. But even if I had, I would've only gained a second or two so it wasn't worth the risk of falling. I did, however, try to pick it up a little more when I heard Tami cheering for me. Having someone cheer my name in a race is awesome!

As I was pushing myself toward the finish line, I saw the 22 on the clock, with the seconds climbing higher and higher. Don't stop. Don't stop. Don't stop.


That's me in the green. Thanks, Melissa, for the photo!
I crossed the line in 22:51 -- my exact (chip) time from last year. I knew there was a small differential between my official start and the clock so I felt confident I had gotten a course PR, which would also be a new official PR.

And I did! My official time was 22:43!

Here are my splits:

Mile 1: 7:51
Mile 2: 7:05
Mile 3: 6:51
last .1: 6:09 pace

Official time: 22:43

Overall place: 216 out of 3892
Age group place (40-44): 22 out of 475

I am thrilled with my race performance. I would have been so easy to see my first mile time and think that my goal was out of reach and just give up. Instead, I called upon my experience and training and reminded myself that I had it in me. I knew I could run fast and make up the time and that is exactly what I did.

I ran faster with each mile. Faster!

Sure, I didn't get an overall PR, but my overall PR (22:05) was set at a race that wasn't chip timed so I definitely consider this my new official PR! What a way to start the month!

And what of my friends? Well, they were speedy runners, too. Gail ran a fast 5K, Bridget, Rebecca and my friend, Gina, all set PRs and Sharon set a course PR! Darlene, who is coming off an ankle injury and had planned to walk the race, ran the whole thing. I'm so happy for her! So happy for them all.

Post-race, I felt great. And then it was time to get ready for my little guy's family birthday party. No rest for this happy runner!

Next up, training for the Boilermaker! And I cannot wait.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, everyone!

~ Felice

5 comments:

Nicole said...

Way to go on the new Officail PR, Felice!! Happy Birthday to your little guy!

Sarah said...

Great run & awesome job on the PR!!!

Sarah
www.thinfluenced.com

macnic said...

Great job and awesome PB. Poor Darlene didn't get the green memo, though, eh? LOL.

Darlene said...

So happy for you. I know you will get even faster.

Darlene said...

and next time, please tell me what colors to wear...LOL.

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