Rogue 30k: Wind, Exciting Miles 7-11, and Owwwww....A Painful Finish

The chilly temperatures and strong wind (25-30mph) didn't deter me this morning as I started the Rogue Distance Festival 30k in Cedar Park/Austin. {Mainly because I had already paid $85 to enter and Ryan & I had made the trip to Austin the day before} But seriously I lined up ready to still fight for my goal of running 6:20-6:30 pace with an ideal goal of breaking 2:00:00 (6:26 pace).
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.

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.

Finishing what I started

Splits:

Mile 1	6:22
2	6:33
3	6:38
4	6:28
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.

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!