Just call me a streaker - today, for the fifth year in a row, I ran the Human Race 8K in St. Paul. I love this race. It always feels like the official start to spring. I was staying at my mom's this weekend, so it was an easy 20 minute drive to the race. My mom, aunt, and Sophie all came along to cheer me on. We met my running partner Jim and my friend Mac at the race.
My mom dropped me off at the packet pick up area so I had plenty of time to get my bib and wait in a LONG line for the porta potties. After finally getting my turn, I met up with Jim and Mac and we all walked the few blocks to the starting line. We got to the line right before the start, so we were way in the back - right with all the strollers and walkers. Lovely.
The race started and we were off. I decided I didn't want to waste a bunch of energy dodging people, so I just stuck to the edge of the left curb, passing on the grass when I needed to. This worked pretty well and I quickly found myself in a group that was running my pace.
This is basically an out and back course (with a brief detour around the block at William Mitchell - my law school). The first half of the race felt like it went really quick. It was really windy, but only occasional gusts threatened to blow me halfway down the street.
On the way back, I stopped and walked for a couple of seconds to drink some water. I was thirsty! I also wanted to put my iPod on to have a little music to push me through the second half. At about mile 3,5, I got a ridiculous cramp in my side. I stopped and stepped onto the grass, thinking I might need to roll around on the ground and cry for a little bit. Then I decided t suck it up and keep running. Thankfully after a few blocks the cramp went away.
I busted out the last few tenths of mile to Livin' on a Prayer and crossed the line. I was super confused because my clock time was 43-something, but my garmin said 42:44. I spent about five minutes trying to figure out this mystery. And then had a duh moment when I remembered chip time. Apparently oxygen was being diverted from my brain to keep my legs a moving. I just checked the race website and my chip time was 42:48. 17 seconds slower than the PR I set last year, but a good race for me.
Hope you all had great weekends - looking forward to catching up on race reports, long runs, and everything in between!
15 comments:
Nice race!
Nice work Heather!! Maybe next year I will make this one:) I hate it when I get those running cramps. Way to tough it out and finish it out:) You did good!!
Great race! :)
Nice work on the 8K. Congrats!
I got stuck near the back today too... dodging is so annoying/exhausting!
I love running the same race over multiple years. Let's me track progress, lack there of or the regression. Now, with a Garmin, I can see all kinds of ways to compare year to year.
Heather-
Way to "SIU"! (and not get blown over) ...I was wondering if you ever made the decision on adding Grandma's to your schedule? - D
Awesome race! I have an 8k I do every year as well- something nice about knowing the course, people...etc...
Nice race. I enjoyed a non-PR performance yesterday in the 8k as well. In fact mine was a pw.
I have been bouncing around the blognation looking for race reports and found yours. I write a weekly race report/round-up for the MDRA blog and added yours to links of Human Race reports. I hope that is okay.
You can read it at: http://runminnesota.blogspot.com/2010/03/race-results-and-reports-roundup-2.html
Well done Heather!
"I stopped and stepped onto the grass, thinking I might need to roll around on the ground and cry for a little bit." OMG! You crack me up! Way to power through! Your race reports are always the best!
Great job on the race, cramps and all!
Thanks for the comment, Heather. You have given me hope...I was a little sceptical about using a hybrid bike at a triathlon (not that I am anywhere close to participating in one!), but maybe that's not such a bad idea.
awesome job out there! i love those races that become a thing you do every year :)
Good job on the race!
Nice work on the race, that's a great time and not too far off from your PR at all! Congrats!!!
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