Life has been a little crazy lately, hence the lack of updates, but in all reality there hasn't been a lot to report. It's icky outside. No fun to be out and about. Still I did two races in two weeks.
The results kind of made me want to stick my tail between my legs, hide in a corner and sulk, not because the times were necessarily bad, but because I ran the races so poorly.
Cinco de Julio Cuatro Miler July 9: I signed up for this one simply because it involved tequila and I got in for free. To clarify: The tequila came after the run.
It was 90 degrees out and brutal! There was no mercy on the course, either, the run went a mile plus on Broad Street, a short distance through a shady park and then back through the unforgiving heat!
I met up with my MIT buddies Jessica and Brandon and we did a two mile warmup to meet our six for the day. The event was at The Bluestone, a fancy bar in Columbus inside an old church. The race started at 6 and the heat was by no means dying down. We basked in the air conditioning to stretch and then it was back outside for the run itself. (continued after the jump)
It was a crazy idea to even think about running at an 8:30 pace but that's what I was shooting for. I lined up with the 9:00 pacers and stuck with them for the first mile, and then jutted out ahead. Big mistake. The first two miles were both 8:39.
I went at about an 8:30 pace but hit a wall after about 2.5 miles, just when we came out of the park. The heat was too much, I couldn't do it, stopped to walk for a few then picked it back up. The third mile was 9:30. I had to stop again in Mile 4 but found the energy to kick it in, the last mile was 9:03, finishing in 36:47. Full results here. I was still pleased to see I took 2nd in my age group!
The after-party at the Bluestone made the whole thing worth it. I caught up with Brandon and Jess and we went inside to watch the The Conspiracy Band, who just did family-friendly covers but were still really entertaining. They fed us chips and bagels and we finally got our Patron Palomas, which is just Patron, grapefruit soda and lime juice, yummy!
Even though this was just a four-miler I felt really run down after, I've been a bit under the weather this week. Still, I got a lovely new medal to add to the wall!
The Worthington Hills Firecracker Trot 5K was the week before on July 1. Also an evening race, also blazing hot, also didn't go well for me.
Things didn't get off to a good start and just went downhill from there. It was by no fault of the event organizers, it was a really fun event and a really pretty course. Had I paid more I would have expected more, but given that the fee was $10 it was absolutely worth it.
I got off work too late, got there too late, had no time to warm up and stretch. Still, I decided to go for the PR. Bad call! I decided to try out the Zoots in a 5K, not a bad idea in itself but the shoes were a contributing factor to pure disaster later!
The heat was brutal, but I took off strong the first mile, running a 7:33. Yay for kids with super soakers and people who put their sprinklers on the street! I started to fall apart the second mile, stopping to walk once and running an 8:11. The last mile was the worst, I could barely function for the first part but managed to kick it in at the end. Mile 3 was 9:43 and the final time was 26:19. Full results here.
But then, disaster hit. My car key wasn't in my iPod sleeve, and was nowhere to be found on the course! I ended up having to get the car towed to Honda to have a new one made, fortunately they're the ones with computer chips in them so they didn't have to make a whole new mold!
This weekend is the last installment in four weekends of races, the Greenswell Triathlon relay with the Manic Mojos (myself and two other girls from work!) Running a 5K will be interesting after MITs first 10-miler, but I will survive! After that, no more racing until the Hocking Hills Indian Run in September!
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