Double Header Racing Weekend: Me and my mom

The backstory (come on - I'm a historian - there is always a backstory): Saturday was the Clarendon Day 5k and 10k - the 4th running it, and the 3rd time I've run it.  My first year (2010), I ran the 10k in 45:51.  It was a lot of fun and one of my first Pacers-affiliated events.  Last year, I ran the 5k in 20:23, which was a PR.  I came in as 7th woman, and just missed placing in my age group.  I returned this year to move up place wise and aim for another PR.  This summer in San Francisco, I PRed in 19:32.  I had lost some confidence when I returned to the East Coast, but regained it last week at the Navy 5 Miler.  This week, I worked on honing in and getting ready for this race.  Sarah had estimated roughly 19:20 for my finish time.
I had my boyfriend over for dinner the night before - something that is becoming a nice pre-race tradition.  Nothing like a good date to be relaxed.  And I managed to fall asleep so quickly - a good sign.  I even woke up two minutes before my alarm went off at 6AM this morning - an even better sign that I was ready to go.  Warm-up went well - I got to cover a good chunk of the course and enjoy some quiet before the hustle and bustle of the race.
I nestled into position - second row.  I craned around to see if I could find Sarah, who would normally be in the front, but couldn't see her.  Maybe she didn't show?  There was no time to get caught up in it, because then we were off!

This course has a huge net downhill, with the first 1.5 miles going downhill.  You have to just take it out hard in the beginning, with gravity on your side, and not be afraid when you see your mile splits come up in the beginning.  A ton of people surged around me, like bees, and I let them go.  Like most races, I would prefer to have people in front of me, and work throughout the race to catch them.  I went through the first mile in 6:02.  And I didn't freak out - I knew it was going to be fast.  It didn't feel like an all out sprint either, so I continued with a similar effort.  Wasn't really moving in on any women, but that was okay.  Mile 2 - 6:07.  Holy cow - if I can hold onto this, this will be a massive PR.  It was at this point that I started to work on passing women.  I had gotten through the turnaround and counted myself in 7th.  If I could just move up a few places, that would be great.  I caught one woman, and that gave me a little momentum to just keep working to move up.  And then another, and then another - I think.  Sometimes it all happens so fast.  Or not.  I looked at my watch at mile 3 - 6:45.  What?  I figured I would slow down a little, but since I was passing people, I didn't think it would be by that much.  As I looked down at my watch, trying to do math in my head (which is never a good thing to do while running), I started to wonder/worry if I was still going to hit my PR.  But, I didn't have much time to think, because then there was just that .1...

19:21

6:14 per mile pace

4th woman/612

46/1092 overall

1st in Age group

Wow!  Right on track with Sarah's prediction.  This was a great race.  I went all out, blew up a bit, but still managed to move up to the front.  I am sharpening up my speed and learning what it means to go all out.  I knocked over a minute off of my time from last year - showing what can be done in a year.  If there's anything that can give me confidence about improvement, it is running.  In my life, it has been the clearest way for me to track progress.  Work hard, and the times will speak for themselves.  

It is kind of crazy.  I broke 20 minutes for the first time in March, which was a goal I had had for a while.  After that, Sarah said that it would become a consistent thing.  My next 2 5ks, I did not do that.  However, the most recent 2, I have gone under 20 again.  The new normal?  The last 3 races, my place time have been first, third, and fourth overall.  Really?  This is beyond anything I could have ever conceived of as a runner.  I don't know exactly what lies ahead in my running future, but if things continue at this rate, it could be pretty sweet.

And in other running and racing news, yesterday was my mom's half marathon debut.  Last year, she had been training for the Rochester Half Marathon through August, when ITBS got to be so painful that she couldn't run again until March.  After rehab and easing back into the mileage, she trained all summer for this.  Training went well, and she got in all of her long runs in with no problems.  Her main goal yesterday was to finish, but I knew she was hoping to run maybe 2:20 or 2:15.  But she and her friend pushed really hard and ran...
2:08:11!!!

Sue and my mom after the race

My mom and dad

I was so floored and excited when she called me.  That is an amazing time - I have friends my age who would be happy to run that kind of pace for a half marathon.  She was so happy and excited, and who wouldn't be?  So, clearly I inherited some endurance from her - and my dad too (a triathlete).
It was a great weekend of racing in the Medievalist household.