8k Race Report

Uh....what a race.  I can honestly say that this was the first race where I thought and really wanted to quit running in the middle of the race.  I've struggled before in races, most notably in miles 10+ of half marathons, but never anything as big as this in shorter races. 

8k Race Results

Time: 36:55

Pace: 7:25/mile

Overall: 18/68

Female: 2/32

Age Group: 1/???

Race day morning started off like every other....with my alarm going off three hours before the race to eat some breakfast.  After eating and deciding what I was going to wear, which took far too long, I left for the race.  The race was in Iowa, about 20 or so miles from my parents house, so my mom took me and was my race photographer.  It was so nice! 

I  knew it was going to be a rough morning when I got to the race and only ran 1/2 mile for a warm-up and was drenched in sweat.  It was incredibly humid and hot.  The race started at 8:00 from a high school and was very, very small.  There were only 68 people who ran the 8k, and 101 that ran the 2 mile, which started at the same time.  After much thought, I decided to run with my music because the race was so small.  Even though I've been running without my music this summer for the majority of my runs, I thought I would need it, given the conditions.

The start of the race...so small!  Can you spot me?

I felt pretty good for the first two miles of the race, but then at mile 3 the wheels came off.  I knew, after looking at mile splits from last year, that mile 3 was incredibly hilly, and 4 is just about the same.  At mile 3.5, I started to feel sick.  I got really hot and thought I was going to puke.  I thought about how I might possibly earn a "Pukie Award", even though this race was a running race and not a triathlon.  (Can you get a Pukie Award if you think you are going to puke, but don't actually puke?  Perhaps a 2nd place Pukie Award?  Or a "I want to be part of the Pukie club but just didn't quite make it" award?)  It provided me with some distraction for a good 1/2 mile or so. 

At mile 4.3, I saw my mom, cheering for me.  I knew I had one more small loop to do which was all uphill and then just finish.  As I saw my mom, I told her that I felt awful.  Being the kind person that she is, she went back to her SUV and got my water bottle to give me right after I finished, in case they weren't handing out cold water.  They were giving out water, which I drank in about 3 minutes.  Perhaps I was a little dehydrated....

I compared last years results with this years, and it appears that everyone ran slower.  The girl that won the race last year and this year ran faster last year.  The fastest men's time this year was also slower than last years time. 

The good thing about running is that there is always next race or next year to do better.  A PR is still a PR, even though I'm not very happy about it.  I'll chalk this one up to a learning experience and know that I need to hydrate better.  Next race....a half marathon on Labor Day where I'll be attempting for the 3rd time to get into the 1:30s.  Third times a charm, right?

Have you ever earned a Pukie award?  What do you think the award for a person who thinks they will puke but doesn't actually do it be called? 

Medal and race number...the race was so small that they didn't have chip timing.