I made friends on the starting line with a woman hoping to run the half marathon at 6:20-6:30 pace. The gun went off and we settled into our rhythm.
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| We're hard to see here as we're about to pass the stroller that got off to a speedy start |
We chatted a bit the first few miles which offered a bit of a distraction as the first 4 miles went relentlessly into a head wind. We picked up another runner at about mile 4 and he worked with me through mile 6.5 and then I was on my own. This was okay since there finally wasn't a head wind! It seemed to take me a little bit to feel the rhythm since my legs felt like jello after running into the wind for so long. But then the miles just started clicking off and I ran the inclines and declines with a solid pace. I kept my focus on a man I could see in the distance ahead of me but he turned off just before mile 12 for the half-marathon. About a half mile later the course turned and I was facing my dear friend the head wind again. I struggled for a mile hitting 6:45, but then the course had some turns and I got back to 6:30. My hopes were up I thought 2:00:00 was still within reach. Then straight on head wind greeted me again. I felt beat. I was struggling to run 6:50-7:00min pace as I battled the last 4 miles of the course. I managed to finish with a 6:36 pace effort for the last .6miles (.7 on my Garmin) and averaged 6:33 pace for the race setting a new PR of 2:02:18 besting my old PR from my November debut of 2:02:33.
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| Finishing what I started |
Mile 1
|
6:22
|
2
|
6:33
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3
|
6:38
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4
|
6:28
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5
|
6:32
|
6
|
6:30
|
7
|
6:12
|
8
|
6:20
|
9
|
6:14
|
10
|
6:18
|
11
|
6:15
|
12
|
6:23
|
13
|
6:47
|
14
|
6:32
|
15
|
6:59
|
16
|
6:51
|
17
|
6:44
|
18
|
6:57
|
.6
|
6:36
|
I'm happy to have won my 2nd 30k and to be 5th Overall in the race, but I definitely finished feeling beat. Beat down by the wind. The part that hurts is that I really feel I could have broken 2:00:00 in a 30k today, but the fact that I didn't fuels my fire to get back to regular training and have myself fit and ready to reach more challenging goals even if I face adverse weather conditions again.
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| Shivering a bit receiving my award |
Overall, it was a great event and I think it was the perfect way to end my month of racing. While enjoying competing again the past month I also wanted to teach myself how to endure through pain & discomfort and learn to persevere when a race is not going to plan. This 30k provided the perfect lesson plan.
Also, the next time I head to Austin to race I hope Ryan and I have more time to go out and explore the city.
Up Next: Mean Green Distance starts official practice and we head to College Station to compete at our 1st Indoor Meet January 17th!
