Crowd gathering for the instructions before the race
Me freezing--where is spring?
10k lineup
I'm ready for this to be over with!!
Ok, this was a spur of the moment decision, had no plans to run in a race. I'm still trying to build up my base from being sick and I had a tough day yesterday workout wise so I was pretty sure this would not be one of my better efforts. During warmup my legs felt dead and heavy, now I KNEW this wouldn't be a good race for me. The course is described as challenging, the first 3.5 miles are hills. Did ok the first 3 hills but ended up having to take 4 short walk breaks (one was at the water station) after that. DEAD legs!!! Once I got past the hill after the water stop I didn't have to take anymore walk breaks but it was definitely a mental game of picking landmarks to reach. Knew in the beginning there was no chance of an age group award, way too many women in my age range that were too far in front of me from the start. At just before the 1/2 way point there was an older man in front of me and a few people behind me and that's how it stayed until the end. The guy ahead of me finished approx. 45 seconds before me.
My time was around the 57:40 mark. Not a great time but I put in the best I could so I'm satisfied with it. I had nothing left at the end. Gary and Mr. Tom stopped in after the race to say hi while on their bicycle ride this morning, it was nice getting to see them for a few minutes.
James thought I should've done the 5k, but I was needing a long run anyway and I thought this would be a good experience to have a longer race after having a hard workout the day before. The what doesn't kill you makes you stronger school of thought (wow, how many cliches can I get in one sentence?!). Oh, besides the hills, there was also a strong wind again--not as bad as yesterday, but bad enough.
Rant of the day: The only organized running group I can find around Searcy is associated with the health club and I don't much care for the way they act. They have come off very rude at every race I've been at with them. They don't clap for other people finishing, winning awards, and act pissed off if one of them doesn't place. If this is the group that was part of the Ark RRCA I can see why they no longer field a team, they're totally outclassed by the other running clubs in the central AR area and I'm not just talking about their speeds. The White River Roadrunners and the Cabot Country Cruisers are two clubs that are just awesome with their attitudes, nearly everybody in both those groups are super friendly with everyone not just their friends. I am sooooo envious that there isn't a group like those here, maybe I need to try to start another running group in Searcy?
1 comment:
We did that race last year... it is a very challenging course!! You did awesome!!!
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