NOTE: This race report is ridiculously tardy which is totally in keeping with my personal habit of rarely, if ever being on time.
When looking at my race calendar for the summer, I realized that I had nothing scheduled until my marathon in October. Originally I had hoped to do two women's triathlons here in Denver, but after looking at the layer of dust on my unused bike and realizing that I hadn't swam since August of 2006 ... I wisely decided against competing in either of those races.
When flipping through my Colorado Runner magazine (can you imagine? A running community so large here that they have a monthly magazine) I fixated on the Iron Girl Denver event on July 1st. They had a 5K and a 5 mile distance and I thought a 5 miler would be fun. I looked at my schedule and saw that I was working on Saturday during the day and off the Sunday of the race so it would be perfect!! I registered online and after reading some reviews on my BT website, started to look forward to the event. It wasn't until a week prior that I realized that I was in fact working Saturday NIGHT!! This means I go into work at 7 p.m. on Saturday and get off at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. And my 5 mile race?? Yeah, that starts downtown at 8 a.m.!! Yet another example of poor planning on my part because I always run like crap after I've worked all night. Having put down my $35 and really wanting to do it anyway, I just accept that I'm not going to be particularly speedy and that I will be scrambling to make the start of the race on time.
I packed my race bag and took it to work with me that night, gave a speedy report to the oncoming shift (thanks to the day nurse for showing up a little early so I could get out quicker), changed in the locker room and was in my car headed downtown by 7:30. I made it to the start with 10 minutes to spare!! For my race outfit, I was debuting my pink camouflage marathon girl skirt, and given that the company who makes the skirt is based in Boulder I saw TONS of racers in skirts and quite a few in the pink camo one. Interestingly enough, I even saw another racer named Jennifer (our names were on the bibs) wearing essentially my same racing outfit! This was definitely the first time I had seen so many fashionable racers, usually I'm one of the few in a skirt so I really stand out whereas in this case I was just part of the crowd.
The start and finish was right in front of the Capitol and the approximately 800 racers for both events were starting together. It wasn't terribly hot yet (it's been RIDICULOUSLY HOT for Denver as of late) but the sun was full out and super bright. As usual I didn't warm up and I had peed twice in the portapotties. Immediately after the start is a huge climb for about two blocks - bascially my heart rate jumped into race mode about 500 feet into the race and I was already panting which didn't bode well for the rest of the race. I had decided on a 4 minute run, 1 minute walk strategy and though I didn't have any firm goals - I was hoping to break an hour. The first mile was tough, not only because of the hill, but because it always takes me about a mile to settle into my run. Unlike a lot of other races I've been in, the field spread out pretty quickly so I was mostly on my own. I didn't have an iPod, so it was mainly just the sound of my own feet on the pavement. Truth be told, I got a little lonely and I missed the occasional chatter with fellow racers.The course went east and then circled around Cheeseman Park, there was the occasional slight hill but all in all it was pretty flat. I stuck with my walk/run ratio but I was having some difficulty keeping my heart rate under control and it was really feeling like I was putting out a lot of effort. Basically it was the same type of crappy running feeling that I expect after a long night at work. As I was going into the last mile, I realized that I was going to break an hour so I decided to kick my running pace up a notch and really push it. I still took my walking breaks but was doing about a 9- 9:30 pace during my runs (which is fast for me). I still had enough left to sprint it out to the finish, then I grabbed some Gatorade and walked a bit until the dizziness left.
The best part of the race was the awesome breakfast spread! There were tables set up in the park outside the Capitol with white tableclothes and floral centerpieces, and the breakfast buffet was amazing!! Everything from fresh fruit and cereal to french toast and croissant sandwiches. I completely stuffed my face, waited around for the door prize drawings (came up empty handed as usual) then headed home for a much deserved nap.
My official time was 58:29 which is a pace of 11:42. I had an overall placement of 292/353 (seriously, runners in Colorado are FAST!) and was 65/76 in my age group. Though it's certainly not my quickest short distance race, given the circumstances I was quite pleased and I got a pretty medal, a technical tee, as well as a great breakfast out of it!!!
Oh, and my cute skirt?? I felt like I was flashing my butt cheeks the first half of the race. The bikini briefs beneath aren't *quite* as modest as I would like so I don't know that I'll be racing in it again. I have similar racing skirts in a another brand that cover my butt a little better, and then I have several with compression shorts beneath as opposed to the bikini. This was the only race where I've been constantly worried about my ass, and I'm just thankful it was an all women's event or I would probably have been mortified!!
No comments:
Post a Comment