Friday night was the Provena 5k Run/Walk. There was about 5,000 runners/walkers. I had a little cheering section of Jim (my husband), Susan, Caleb & David, friends who came all the way from Alabama to see me run. Ok, not really. David & Caleb were running on Saturday as well, that is why they were really there. I had never met either of these people in person (just lots of internet interaction and phone conversations over the last 7 years), so it was so great to see & hug them in person and have them there to cheer me on. I ran good & strong, but not all out. My finish time was 21:44. That time earned these rankings: 140th overall out of 5043 finishers, 14th out of 3089 women & NUMERO UNO (1st) out of 403 women in my age group of 35 - 39. My prize will be mailed to me at a later date. I gave my medal to my friend Susan, whom I love so much and she so earned it, just not in a running way on this particular day. My camera had been left in my car (oops) so I had Susan take a picture of me with my medal. So I can't post a picture of that. No pressure Susan....just my whole blogging fan base waiting to see that picture. Ha - ha, I'm teasing you : ) I did take get this picture taken later in the evening with my super awesome rockin' outfit.
Saturday was the Christine Clinic Marathon, Half Marathon & 10k. When I woke up at 4:30 a.m. I could hear the howling wind (rut roh) and later when we went to load our bags in the car it was pouring down rain (double rut roh). Luckily that was the worse of it and by time we parked for the race it had stopped. Not that it was sunshine & perfect conditions. It was still cold, cloudy and dreary. Trying to find Susan, Caleb & David proved to be a fun distraction before waiting to line up. Before we knew it the gun was off and we were on our way.
Due to lack of training I really held back during the whole race. I felt good, actually really great 99% of the time. Only during the last few miles did I have to be very purposeful about keeping good form. Knowing that my little fan club was awaiting me at the finish line helped keep me on track to finishing sooner rather than later. Susan & Caleb....you helped me more than you realized, even though you were not there by my side!!
My goal was to finish under 4 hours. Last year I finished in 5:18. However, before you think I'm coo coo for cocoa puffs I have to explain that last year was completely different. Last year my goal was to pace and complete the race with Jim who is very new to the long distance scene. Where as long distances comes VERY naturally to me, Jim has to really work at it. Last years time is not a measure of the norm for me. It was still the bar set though and I knew I could lower the bar drastically. Even though I held back a lot and took more of a running vs. racing aspect I finished with no problem at 3:54:41. That placed me 619th overall out of 1890 marathoners, 152nd out of 744 females & 25th out of 106 women in my age group of 35 - 39. I had taken 1:25 off of last years time. My BQ (time to qualify for Boston) is 3:40 and now I'm on a quest to actually train & race to take off another 14 minutes off my time to be able to say I qualified. Maybe this fall? I don't know. We'll see.
I love this race so much. It is very, very fun. Jim says he will not run another marathon. I'll believe it when I see it. He finished in 4:30, taking 45 minutes off his previous time. Awesome, I bet he could easily lower that again. My man is amazing!!!!! Either way, I will likely run this race again next year. The course is fun, the fans & support along the way is amazing. It's a winner in my book!
AGAIN....I did not have my camera handy. Susan took a bunch for me on her camera (seriously....NO PRESSURE Susan....ha-ha). I did get a few later on. Here is one of my favorites with Jim after we had finished:
I'm sure I'll have more little tidbits to tell you about as the week goes on. For now, that is my recap. If you want to hear me gibber jabber about other race details you can watch my vlogs.
No comments:
Post a Comment