This past week I've had horrible sleeping issues. I've woken up at 3 AM - wide awake - every night, including last night. That really does not make for decent sleep, or at least for me.
Even though I was tired this morning when my alarm went off, I got ready and drove into the city with 2 other people from my running club. Before we hit the city, it started to snow. And, it was really cold. Then, we got down to the bike path, and it was windy.
Before the race started they said if you were running the half marathon, you could quit at the 10k because it ended at the half finish line (the half was 2 loops, the 10k 1). When I heard this, I was very tempted. Let me remind you, I was freezing at the start and wanted nothing more than to be warm.
The gun went off, and the start was crowed. I maneuvered around some slow people and before I knew it my Garmin beeped for mile 1: 7:26. I was feeling great, and kept going. At mile 1.5, we had to make a sharp turn. I noticed there was a lot of snow on the path and a guy about 15 feet in front of my fell. At this point, I wasn't sure if I wanted to run. The last thing I wanted is to fall and get injured.
Mile 1.5 - 2.5 were covered in snow. I was moving, but it felt like I was going soooo slow. My legs were heavy. At mile 2.5, I decided I would only do the 10k. I justified it to myself various ways:
1. I've only ever run 1 10k and it will be good to see what time I can have in crappy weather.
2. I will get done sooner, be warm sooner.
3. I could still do my planned 18 mile run tomorrow if I only ran a 10k.
After making that decision, I focused on keeping a decent pace. After I got over half way done, we started to run by others that were on their way to that point. People were being very kind and telling me what place I was in for female runners - 3rd. I was getting excited...I could probably place if I held my pace.
With that encouragement, mile 5 was my fastest - 6:54 according to my Garmin. I was nearing the finish and happy to be done. I crossed the finish line, got my medal, and went to our meeting point at a nearby hotel. I was never happier to be out of the cold.
How did I actually do?
Time (10k): 45:29 (7:20 pace per mile)
Overall Place: 17/669 (top 2%)
Gender Place: 3/434 (top 1%)
Age Group: 2/82 (top 2%)
Have you ever changed the distance you were running during a race? Or, would you have liked to do so during a certain race?
You did awesome! I was feeling badly for all the fast runners out there - it was tough enough while going really slowly. They cleaned up that really snowy mile (or it got stomped on enough) so that the second loop was not nearly as difficult as the first. And there was a giant part of me that wanted to stop at 10k (especially after they made us run THROUGH the finishing chute).
ReplyDeleteFirst off, WICKED job man! Good for you for making an executive decision. Kind of surprised that they would have a race that could notoriously be snowy at that time of year. Awesome time on the 10k! you continue to impress me EVERY.SINGLE.TIME with your speed.
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