WEATHER: The race was supposed to start at 8:00 a.m., but we had to meet at 7:40 a.m. and then walk over to the starting line. We didn't start right on time and I wish we had. It was a chilly morning and the goose bumps were getting worse and worse the longer we stood there. Once we got going, I warmed up quickly. It was a really sunny day (during race time it was probably in the 70's I'd guess), so I was happy that most of the trails we ran on went through the shaded paths of the Sunriver resort. The last 5 miles were out in the open and that's when it was the warmest, but it wasn't unbearable.
COURSE: I couldn't have picked a better course for my half marathon. It was mostly flat, as I had hoped that it would be. There was probably a total of ten times that I had to power up a hill and the longest one was probably 40 feet. Not a big deal.
PACE: Again, the first mile of my race was ridiculous. I keep wondering to myself why the people who organize these events don't post some sort of sign...."Runners on the left, walkers on the right". It's really annoying that it takes at least a mile to get to a point where you can jog semi-comfortably. But once I got to that point, I could tell that the group I was racing with was going to push me. They were running at a quick pace, to say the least.
GOALS: My goals before the race were.....Realistic goal: 10:30 min/mile. Competitive goal: 9:30 min/mile. I was going to be happy to finish with a time between 2:10:00 and 2:20:00.
STATS: With 5 miles left in my race, I made a competitive goal change :). I looked at my watch, did the math for my time so far, and thought "I think I can make it under two hours". But I knew it would be down to the minute. My last two miles I could really feel the pressure, and REALLY wanted to make it under two hours, but my legs weren't cooperating. Typically I feel like I can pick it up a notch at then end of a race. Obviously, this is when it was clear to me that I had never run a total of thirteen miles before and it really does make a big difference :). I was going as fast as I could and I couldn't go any faster. When I crossed the finish line, the clock said 2:01:05. RATS! However, that is not my official chip time (every runner wears a chip on their tennis shoe that records your time once you cross the starting line, so I knew there still might be hope of my time being slightly less than the two hours on the clock). Later in the day we went back to the Sunriver Village and they were posting official times. We had to look....
Time: 1:57.28; Avg. pace per mile: 8:58 (32 seconds faster than I'd hoped); Place in my age group: 19/103; Place overall: 344/1390. I am VERY pleased with those results!!!
This short video is all I have for pictures of my race. Mike insisted he take my picture after the race, and as you will see, he must've done a video on accident. We think it's funny, because I'm just standing there grinning at the video camera like a dork :).
1 comment:
congratulations Mindy! You accomplished more than you sought out. That has to feel good.
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