Saturday, January 3, 2009

Resolution Run 2009

It was my first race of 2009 and I feel GREAT! I not only took three minutes off my PR, but I shaved eight minutes off the same race last year.* It is a small, casual race around Mission Bay where I often run. The weather was chilly and misty, but I was dressed perfectly and was never uncomfortable.

Here is what I learned this morning from this race:

  • I REALLY need to focus on starting out slower. I took off with the pack and felt great. It is so hard to judge sometimes and the Garmin doesn't seem to register pace in real time (although a very friendly runner told me afterward about looking at a different screen... we'll see if that helps). When my autolap told me my first split of 8:11, I got a little nervous. That was too fast!
  • I need to learn to run the tangents. A 15K is 9.3 miles, but my Garmin (and Nike+) say that I ran 9.48 miles.
  • I love running with my Nathan Hydration Belt. I forgot how much I prefer taking small sips while I am running as opposed to taking gulps from a dixie cup. I never had to stop.
  • Runners are nice people. OK, I already knew this, but when you go to a race by yourself it is much easier to chat with strangers. Everyone I talked to was running Carlsbad at the end of this month. I enjoyed chatting with Lisa, Monica, Paul and Karen. Paul, who has run over 50 half marathons, gave me a lot of great advice. His insight into Carlsbad should help me a lot. It definitely helped my confidence.
  • Fiesta Island is no party. The back side of Fiesta Island is long and desolate. On a cold grey day the bay doesn't look so pretty. At this point in the race (between miles five and seven or so), people had spread out quite a bit so I felt like I was running by myself. At one point I felt a wicked headwind. Those were my slowest miles of the day. The memories that Fiesta Island brought back were bitter sweet. The last time I had run there was during my seventeen mile run last spring. Unfortunately, that was when Jen had to hobble back to the car with an achilles injury. She insisted that I go on and I ended up having a fabulous run (following up my horrible 16 mile run the week previous). Jen missed the next several weeks of training, which was a real bummer.
  • It feels good to pass people. Even if I know I will never win a race, I still have those competitive urges during them. I feel a sense of accomplishment when I pass people. I thought about Kristin several times when I passed a guy. She referred to a blog of a guy who referred to being "chicked" when a girl passed him. I giggled to myself as I "chicked" several macho looking guys. Kristin, you and I will have to run together one of these days!
  • If today were a 10K, I would have blown away that PR as well. My 10K PR is 55 and change. My 10K split, according to Garmin, was 53:36.
  • I don't think placing in my age/division is in the cards. Last year, after looking at the results, I discovered that I placed third in my division (women 40-49). Laura was 2nd. Since we didn't run it particularly fast, we didn't stay to hear our names. I don't even know if they had medals. I decided to stick around this year. I thought I might have a chance at one of those cheesy little medals. I think a lot more good runners came out this year. Third place for women 40-49 ran it in 1:16. I was nowhere close. Bummer.
  • Despite the fast first mile, I think I ran a pretty smart race. I still had some juice in the tank at the end. Ironically, my ninth mile was just as fast as my first.**
  • If I stay healthy and continue to train the way I have been, I am on course for a sub-two hour half marathon!

Happy running everyone!! And happy 2009!!!

*The Resolution Run was in March last year for some reason. It was my second race ever and my first race since embarking on the marathon training program. I ran it in 1:29.
** Splits for today's run:
mile 1-- 8:11
mile 2-- 8:25
mile 3-- 8:45
mile 4-- 8:39
mile 5-- 8:50
mile 6-- 8:55
mile 7-- 8:52
mile 8-- 8:37
mile 9-- 8:12
.48 at 7:46 pace

9 comments:

MCM Mama said...

Nicely done!

And I totally love "chicking" guys!

Anonymous said...

Good job on the PR! I'm proud of you!

And you're so right... runners are good people. I'm constantly amazed at how much easier it is to talk to complete strangers if it's running-related than any other place in life!

Kristin said...

What a fantastic race! Every single split under nine minutes (and substantially so!). You are really living up to your potential. That half-marathon PR is YOURS! Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

I wish that they had more 15Ks around here, I think that'd be a cool distance to race!

Congratulations, and i will have to check out that "chicked" guy's blog, that is too funny! good for you!
Ok, and now I have to find out how to set the autolap on my Garmin, I've had it longer than you and I still don't know how to use most of it! :-)

Aka Alice said...

Congrats on the PR and an excellently run race. I didn't do the 15K this morning, as I was running with the SDTC (first meeting...I'll blog about it later).

Are you running Carlsbad at the end of the month? You're right, runners are the BEST peeps!

Marathonman101108 said...

Hey, I've been "chicked" and I don't care! I think it's kinda cool to see a "chick" go sprinting past me. I can always try the "she's younger than me so she should beat me" excuse since I'm 52! Yeah I know, age and gender don't really matter...GREAT job in your race.What a way to start the New Year. Reading blogs like yours helps motivate me to be positive and "keep on running." Also, thanks for the pep talk in my blog. It was greatly appreciated.

Oz Runner said...

Congrats on the PR. Getting the new year off to a great start.

Janice {Run Far} said...

Hi there, I am sneaking over from Runnermom's blog.

Great time, and I have to say, I agree, runners are good, nice people.

Hope you don't mind if I come back to visit again.

Southbaygirl said...

Awesome race! Even nicer to get a PR especially after the holidays !! Way to go!! I'll be at carlsbad as well, but not running a sub 2 hour half!!!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails