Oh Lavender Days!!! This race was my very 1st 5k two years ago in 2010. I had only ever ran 2 miles before it and finished in 24 minutes thinking I was a rockstar! It was a really special experience that first race and I promised myself that I would always go back and keep the tradition alive. When they added a half marathon this year I was incredibly excited. Unlike everyone else that raced today I signed up for this race right after UVM and after taking 3 weeks off after UV I threw together a quick 2 week training cycle.
I was excited to have Jake & Andrea stay with me last night. They are even cooler in person and you should all meet them. We headed to the race this morning which is about 15 minute from my house, caught the bus and got to the start around 6:10. I had so many friends running this race most of them as they're first (poor things!) so of course I just started talking to everyone and only managed a measly .4mi warm-up. I like a longer wu but it was what it was.
At the start I was surrounded by my running idols (most of them towering over me), Kassi Harmon, Andrea North, Stephanie Talley, Jen Hughes, Kim Taylor, Danielle Johnson......what in the heck was I getting myself into? These are people I admire and look up to and here I was getting the opportunity to run with them. Wow! Instead of being disappointed that I had no chance of placing I decided to look at it as an opportunity to push myself. I drank my 5 hour energy (don't knock it until you try it) and with that we were off!
Miles 1-5: 6:29, 6:53, 6:44, 6:39, 6:37 I started out as 8th female and the first couple of miles were a complete shock to the system. After that I settled into a comfortably hard pace. Whenever the mile ticked and I checked my pace I was a little shocked and wondered if I was going out too fast but what the heck today was not about being conservative and what did I have to lose. I tried to stay behind Kim and worked to keep her close. I moved into 7th place after the first mile.
Miles 6-10: 6:42, 6:58, 6:45, 6:45, 6:47 I felt really good and everything felt comfortable. I was gaining on Kim and again worried I was going too fast. I was very familiar with the course and knew that the hardest miles were ahead of me and I wanted to conserve as much energy as possible. At about 8.5 I caught Kim and I stuck with her until around mile 10. I had been running completely by myself the entire race. No one even close behind me so it was really nice to pace with Kim. She just ran a sub-40 10k and I didn't know what I was thinking pacing with her but whatever I still felt good.
Miles 11-13.1: 6:47, 7:03, 6:20, 5:54 Kim and I passed Danielle and then I just kept grooving along and passed Kim. What the heck was I seriously now in 5th place? I was in complete shock and knew I had to run like hell to the finish because Kim and Danielle are fast! I pushed as hard as I could up that dam gradual uphill dirt road and never even stopped to catch my breath. I flew past the last aid station, swerved in and out of 5kers, and my mantra became "you deserve this". There was no way in hell I was losing my place and I didn't. When the last mile came I knew it was all downhill and I just ran as hard as I could and never looked back. I ran into the finish feeling strong and proud.
When I stopped my watch I was freaking shocked to see 1:28:50!! Official time had me at 1:28:53 but what the heck still a freaking awesome time considering the difficulty of the course. I measured the course long at 13.22 so my garmin pace is 6:43, but I suck at running tangents so official pace is probably more like 6:46. Whatever it is faster than my current 10K PR pace and way faster than what I thought I was capable of. I honestly didn't think I was capable of sub-1:30. I was texting a friend last night telling them I had no shot of doing well because of all of the Elite runners and they text me back saying that they believed in me and what in the heck was I afraid of? Knowing that so many people believed in me really helped me to believe in myself and I was really proud to stand on that podium (okay it was just a little stage) with the best of the best in Utah.
It is absolutely borderline ridiculous how excited I am about my 5th place finish so feel free to tease me all you want. :-) But considering the competition that showed up this morning I think it merits being proud.
Fueling/Nutrition: Anyone that saw me after the race can attest to the fact that my sweat ratio is out of control (this is something I really have to strategically think about). I took 1 salt tab last night and 1 before the race. Drank 32 ounces of Gatorade pre race. I alternated water/gatorade at every aid station except the last and took a GU at mile 7.5. I also dumped cups of water on myself at most aid stations.
Cooled down 2 miles with Jake, Andrea, Melody (who crushed the 5k), Kassi, and Jen and then added another mile with Kim.
Sorry for the long post but I just need to thank everyone that supports me on this blog. As much as I wanted to crawl in a ball and move to Alaska before the start of the race this morning I cannot say enough about how lucky I am to have met so many awesome people that continue to support me and believe in me.
PM: 3 miles with the pup. Feeling surprisingly good.
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