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

We did it!!

Jen, Laura, Me, Lisa after the run!

We ran our 15K race yesterday and I felt AWESOME!!! I even made my time goal of under 10 minutes per mile. The official times aren't in, but my Nike+ recorded that I ran it in 1:29, which is an average of 9:30 per mile. I am actually pretty excited about that since I ran the 10K last summer with a 9:57 pace. I probably could have gone a bit faster, but I am glad I didn't. I finished strong and feel good. The bummer thing is that I somehow accidentally deleted the run from my iPod. I really wanted to look at my pace throughout the race. Plus, I wanted to document all my runs and to lose 9.3 miles is big. :-( *EDITED: Yeah for my Nike+. My run was recorded and uploaded to the website. If you look at the graph you can see my speed increasing at the end. Yeah!! At one point at the end of the race I was running well under a 9-minute-mile pace. That gives me so much confidence in my ability!!

Laura and Jen pulled ahead after a mile or two. My Nike+ confirmed that Lisa and I didn't slow down, so the other two just ran faster. Lisa and I chatted nearly the whole way. That made the run go so much more quickly for me. Maybe I could have run faster without talking, but it would have seemed to take FOREVER. With about a mile to go, I told Lisa that I wanted to pick up my pace. I stopped chatting and ran much harder. I would love to know how fast I did that last mile. At the stretch, I still had enough energy for a kick and finished super strong.

After the race, the four of us went for breakfast. We went to Perry's where the portions are insanely large. As hungry as I was, I left a ton. Even so, I was hungry for lunch a few hours later. My metabolism must have been kicked into high gear.

The last thing I wanted to do after all that was more exercise. However, Kenny really wanted to try out some Ellsworth Rides on the boardwalk. We hooked up the trailer for the kids and rode along Mission Beach. It was great. It was a nice way to avoid my muscles tightening up. We took it easy and enjoyed the ocean air. We rode to Fanuel Park on Sail Bay and the kids played a bit. They even went into the water! Man, I LOVE living in San Diego. Where else can you have a day like that in early March?