Tuesday, May 3, 2011

PW: A Race Recap or 2

PW as in Personal Worst, as in not fast, as in not good. 2 weekends, 2 races, 2 PWs. Boo. HISS!

I made a deal with myself Friday before Crazylegs: if it was raining on Saturday when I woke up I could skip the run, if it was sunny I had to go. I mean seriously, should a sick girl be running in cold rainy weather? I think not. Typically I HATE rainy, cold weather but I seriously sat and hoped and prayed that that's what i would wake up to on Saturday so i didn't have to run). The over paid, highly educated, local meteorologists were all predicting rain so all things were pointing to staying in bed.

Wouldn't you know, it was sunny when I woke up on Saturday. Awesome. Great. I'm excited.

Fuuuuuuuuck.

The only redeeming quality of the day is that however under the weather I was, Wyatt was even more hungover. Like slightly green, rough around the edges, HUNG OVER. I half expected, nay hoped, that he would decide he was too inebriated to run but he was not going to be one to let his Friday night decisions keep him from running.

Looks like I was going to run. I jumped in the shower to try to wake up and loosen up my congested lungs. I suited up, Sugoi Brand Champion shirt and all, and we were off. And then promptly back home because I forgot something. Ok, lessoned learned. Always get your race gear together the night before.
We hustled down there, found our start corral (some 4 blocks from the start line), and we waited. For 55mins. Apparently it takes a while to get 20,000+ runners started. We get to the start line (35mins after the 10am start) and we're off!

I went in with an A, B and C goal.
A. sub-50 (not likely)
B. sub-55 (strong possibility)
C. sub-60

The first mile or so I felt pretty good. We were keeping a 9'ish minute mile, moving right along. I think my favorite part of the entire race was actually running down Langdon. All the crazy college kids, frat boys and sorority sisters, were pre-party on the frat lawns for Mifflin Street Day. It reminded me how much I loved my 4yrs at UW and being a greek. Oh, the good years...

You know what happens after Langdon St tho? Observatory Hill. I am a firm believer that no, and I mean NO ONE, should have to run up Observatory Hill. Ever. For any reason. But it seems just about every local race course takes you up that damn hill. Did I mention I walked the hill? Because I did. I was sick. These things happen.

Just beyond that dreaded hill we hit mile 2. I was feeling a little gaspy, and winded, but I chalked that up to the congestion. It was at that point I decided I would Galloway the rest of the run taking a 1-2min walk break after each mile. Things were pretty uneventful for mile 2 and 3. My legs felt surprisingly strong. My foot wasn't bothering me. But by the 3rd mile I was losing my breath from coughing and the wind. Did I mention it was WINDY? Oh so windy.

Mile 4'ish is when I started to feel, um, done. My legs were starting to get a bit tired and I was just so weezy and coughy and miserable. I had maybe 1/4m of self pity and internal complaining, but I decided that I had to make the last 1/4m strong. I was too close to being done to throw in the towel. So I picked up my pace a touch and just keep moving forward. Before I knew it I was turning into the stadium and running onto the field. And the best part of all this? I beat Wyatt by 30-some odd seconds. Boo-ya!

Crazylegs 2011 57:24 later, was in the books. I came close to my B goal, but as my grandpa always said, close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades.

From there it was a matter of getting separated from W, being cold and frustrated, finally finding W and then the 2+ mile walk to the car.

Fast forward to this past Saturday. The very first race Wyatt and I ever did together was the Lake Monona 20k. I was well trained, W was not. We ran it for fun, er, I ran it for fun. It was slow, but I remember loving every step because we were running it together. Awwww. Well, we obviously didn't run last year as I had a bum foot. And I didn't think I could run it this year because I was/am just not ready for a 20k yet, but guess what?!?! The wonderful folds at Race Day Events added a 5k this year! Squeeee!

Pre-race photo, courtesy of Focal Flame Photography

The highlight of the race was that the Cambridge Girl's Running club, a wonderful group of 3rd and 4th grade girls, were out running their first 5k! So fun! They were so inspiring and cute I couldn't even be upset that the majority of them beat me...

The lowlight of the race was 1/2m in when some yuppie asshole in a grey Mini Cooper (who lives very near Winnequah Park in Monona) decided he couldn't be bothered to wait for the runners to pass his intersection, on the well marked course, and turned INTO the runners nearly hitting one of the previously mentioned Cambridge girls. And when W yelled at him, which was probably against his better judgement in the first place, the yuppie douchebag proceeded to get out of his car and start yelling at the runners. Give me a friggin' break loser.

The rest of the race? Pretty uneventful. Despite my heavy legs, I kept a strong 9:30min pace for the first mile and a half. And then it kind of unraveled. I felt crampy, and sore, and just unmotivated. I just didn't feel like running, that was kind of the bottom line.

My only goal for the day was a sub-30 time. But just past a mile and a half, when I decided I needed to take a walk break, I knew that goal was not going to happen. Ugh. I thought just maybe if I took that little walk break I would be able to get my legs moving and keep my pace. But maybe 1/2m later I could feel my calves and hams getting tighter and heavier and just needed to walk. Again. So I did. And as I stared at my Garmin I watched my sub-30 goal becoming less and less likely.

I knew I could finish, but just wasn't feeling it. And wouldn't you know my dear Wyatt decided to prey on this weakness and he decided to pick up the pace just a touch in the last 1/4m. I watched him do it. I knew I could catch him, but I doubted I could hold that pace, so I let him beat me. By 7 seconds. Yes, I am using the word let loosely there.

W enjoying his victory!

Lake Monona 5k 2001 31:11 Close, and yet so far, from my goal.

And there you have it. 2 weeks, 2 races, to PWs.



PS - Somehow neither Crazylegs nor the Lake Monona 5k were able to capture a finish line picture of me...Booo!! I will continue to scour the untagged photos in hopes of finding proof of my participation, but I'm not feeling too hopeful.