New age group and the Rivertrail 15k

Turned the big 4-0 today.........So how does a crazy, middle-aged female truckdriver celebrate? Well, this one ran a 15k race (Rivertrail 15k) in a cold rain, brrrr! I am completely wiped out so there will be no partying tonight. I'm having trouble adjusting to having to drive all day Friday then getting up on early on Saturdays to compete in the races. I need to find a good multi-vitamin and actually take the damn things once I buy them. Not getting laid over in Laredo would also help with the energy and recovery issue. I can do ok with not having a day off before the events but I'm not accomplishing them in the times that I want. And yes, I realize that most people do have to work the day before but most of the time it's not where they're having to sit behind the wheel for 2-3 hours at a time up to 11 hours a day. Oh gosh, I sound like a whiner, let's just leave it at that I'm not getting enough sleep before a race.

Anyway back to the 15k. Did I mention that it was cold? and rainy? Yeah, there's the whining again, lol! I can handle cold or rain but both is just plain miserable. It's a beautiful course, very scenic, and it's long enough that if you're a middle of the packer like me people are more apt to talk and joke around. I started out with Brenda, Cindy, and Robert but it wasn't long before Brenda and Robert started pulling away (Brenda is a very strong, consistent runner and I have no doubt that she will Boston qualify within the next 1-2 years).

Tried to drink at the first water stop while still running and it ended up going up my nose! Within 2 paces I had a stitch where it messed up my breathing pattern. Slowed down a bit to allow the stitch to go away then tried to resume my pace with mixed results. The crowd had thinned out by now so from here on it was just try and catch the person in front of me and try not to allow people behind me to pass--I did get passed a few times but not an extreme amount. I had been shadowing this older guy for a few miles--maybe 5-10 feet back. I enjoyed being around him because he would crack these jokes every so often. Then for a while whenever we'd pass somebody he'd tell them about the woman (me) who was following him. I finally told him it was because I was enjoying the view, he got a huge chuckle out of that.

Mile 1-8:24
Mile 2-8:24
Mile 3-8:24
Mile 4-10:03 (big drop, uphill portion I think)
Mile 5-8:07 (must have been the corresponding downhill)
Mile 6-9:01
Mile 7-8:59
Mile 8-8:41
Mile 9-8:21 (tummy started cramping, ugh)
Mile 9.3-3:12

As you can see, I didn't have negative splits, grrr. I also didn't hit my goal time of 1:20:00 or under but I did p.r., last year's time was 1:24:05, according to my garmin I did 1:21:40 (don't know what the official time is yet). Anyway it was enough to get third place in the 40-44 age group which I didn't expect at all today. I enjoyed last year's race a lot more than today though! Don't get me wrong, I loved getting to visit with all the Cruisers (and non-Cruisers) before and after but I just wasn't up to what I thought I should have done during the race this morning.

Oh, and I got to visit with Lisa M. quite a bit this morning--I wish I would have thought about asking her if she wanted to do the trail duathlon as a relay team with me. I'm getting the run-around from the person I asked originally, he says he wants to do it but doesn't want to at the same time. Shoot, all I want is a yes or no answer but at this point the du is 2 weeks away and I'm just ready to say to heck with it and cross it off my calendar.

As of today I'm 3 for 3 on the Grand Prix but this race ended my time on the top 10 overall female scoreboard--it was a fluke that I made it in the first place ;-). It was pretty neat to be there for a couple of week though, lol! I'm now ready for a hot bath to soak my sore muscles, although that won't be so great for the 2 toes on my right foot that are now sporting blisters.

James is cooking supper and a cake for me tonight and he bought me some more flowers (awww!).