Ok....this week has been totally nuts! I haven't felt like I've "had it together" since the race last Saturday. So I apologize for being a neglectful blogger :(
The Race:
I woke up dark-and-early at 5:00 AM to get ready for this race. I had not laid out my outfit the night before because I wasn't sure if it would be raining or not. Well....it was raining. I chose my capris, a tech tee, and my jacket. I had packed a bag the night before so all I needed to do was eat a small breakfast and wait for the Brown Monster to make its move.
It took me about 45 minutes to reach the Girl Scout camp that this race was being held at, and I had to drive through a part of town that I'd never been through before. After running 1 red light and blowing a stop sign because I was desperately searching for street signs, I decided that I should just relax. The last thing I needed was a conversation with a police officer attempting to explain that I've never driven through "this part" of town before :( It was really creepy on a Saturday morning!!!
Once I got there, I changed my clothes in the parking lot 3 times. It wasn't raining as hard by the time I got there. It was also a little bit warmer. I didn't want to "run hot" in my jacket and really didn't want to run cold either. I settled on wearing the tech t with a long-sleeved tech shirt over the top. No jacket. Husband was even nice enough to let me bring Pedro because he couldn't come himself. I didn't look fantastic, but I was comfortable.
I was also doing this race by myself so I have absolutely no pictures :( Well.....I might have had a picture or two if I had met the Dailymile friends I was hoping to! But, sadly, I had no idea who I was looking for! It wasn't until I got home and they posted a picture on Dailymile that I realized that I started the race right next to them and walked past them to get my water at the end!!! Ah! Total missed opportunity!
When the race started, we were all just in one big group. It was a trail race that was supposed to run the perimeter of the Girl Scout camp. I only know this because I caught a glimpse of a small race map posted in a corner of the registration area! No one really knew what the course was supposed to look like! The man explaining the course was using a small kereoke machine that kept cutting out so no one really heard what he was saying. We all just hoped it was well marked. Unfortuneately, the lead runners took a wrong turn that lead all of us on to the 2-mile Family Fun Run course (a race that was supposed to start at 9:00 AM) instead of the 4-mile trail course. Oops! Luckily, I had Pedro and he was beeping off the miles as we passed them. I knew something was wrong when I could see the finish line and Pedro only said 2 miles. The "officials" told us we needed to do another lap because of a wrong turn at the beginning. The lead runners actually ended up running 5 miles because they actually got lost before they realized their mistake. Pedro said I only rain 3.5 miles instead of 4. Someone told me that the trees sometimes mess with Garmin signals......hmmm.....whatever. The lead runners were really pissed that things were messed up, but I was just happy I finished the two laps without walking :)
I have never run a trail race before and felt I did rather well on the trails themselves. I didn't stop or slow down too much. Having Pedro keep my pace times for me was helpful. I managed to run a 10:30-something pace the whole race.....awesome for me! I knew I wasn't going to win or even place, but I wanted to PR. And I did!
"Official" time was 36:44.
7th place in age group.
The race was fun and I want to do it again next year. There were Thin Mints at the end that I brought home for Husband to eat. I'm trying to "behave" on my GF diet :)
I'm still trying to choose an October race. There is a 5K that takes place 5 minutes from my house and it's the first year it's being run. I don't think there is a shirt :( But it's only 5 minutes from my house!
Decisions...decisions.
***Edit***
Just read about the "Clydesdale" and "Athena" categories available for the Green Bay Half Marathon I'm thinking of running next year. Apparently the "Clydesdale" category is for men weighing 200+ lbs and the "Athena" category is for women weighing 160+ lbs. Along with age groups, it seems like you can also run in a weight class for this race. Has anyone heard of these categories before? Or is Green Bay just "special" like that?
They have those categories sometimes but not that often in my experience. Good job on your race.
ReplyDeletedefinitely seen them before! Most Athena's are 150+ which is right up my 5'10 self's alley. Go for it!
ReplyDeleteI have seen those categories before.
ReplyDeleteAwesome job on the trail. I really want to do a trail race.
During a bike ride that happened where we followed the leaders and went to the wrong way. Sounds like you guys made it up though/