Race Report - First of 2009

The first race of the season has come and gone.
And you know, I'm pretty happy about that. It wasn't a bad race. But it wasn't a great race either.
The best part? I had fun. I had fun with a bunch of friends. It is a great way to start Superbowl Sunday.
The day was quite cold. When we left home it was 2 degrees. I knew it would be warmer in Cape since it's on the coast and we're in the foothills of some mountains. The thermometer slowly rose to about 15. Not bad. I'm sure it was a bit warmer for the race. Pretty good for an early February morning in Maine.
This race takes place in my hometown. The racers set up home base in my old cafeteria. We use my old swim team locker rooms to change and go to the bathroom. (although they've been completly redone and are unrecognizable. I still can feel 'us' swarming in there every morning of our HS swim season getting ready for school with gossip and curling irons.) It's a very nostalgic race for me that way.
I have been doing this race on and off for years. My Mom and I reminisced about the time we wore Huge cotton sweatshirts for the race. It's comical to note the difference between that and what we wear now.
Mary and I had a nice little warm up. We got in line and found all our friends and eventually my husband. He was running too.....despite a Serious lack of training. More on That later.
One flaw in this great race is that even though we wear timing chips, they are not activate at the start. Our times start when the gun goes off even though 650+ people are forced to filter through a small area. This results in many times being slower than they should be.
We took off out of the HS area and before long, I was able to break out and get my spot. I felt good. I was able to turn my legs over faster than I expected. The first mile is mostly downhilll so it's a little tricky to guage yourself.
Mile 2-3 are mostly up and downhills. I was finding my groove. My breathing caught up with my legs and I felt strong. My splits started a little higher than I wanted (just over a 7 min pace) but they were slowly dropping and that felt great.
The first 5 miles are pretty hilly. I felt strong and convinced myself that the 2nd half was relatively flat. After all, I grew up on these roads. I knew Just what the course was like.
By mile 7, something was happening. My right leg was locking up a bit and darnit, we were still climbing! There is a loooooooooong road that goes by the beach I used to lifeguard at, the strawberry fields I used to pick at for a summer job, and my old church. I tell you, that road Never ended that day. Mile 7 was absolutely forever. I was losing steam. The long gradual hills around that loop were maddening. I don't how I forgot about those!
My splits were slowing by about 10 sec/mile and that made me mad.
Finally mile 8.
I was concentrating on pain. I wasn't going to let a little pain get to me! This is where it starts to hurt for all and I was Not going to give in to it.
I really faught those demons that try to make you slow down.
I pushed.
I suffered.
Mile 9, finally. While my splits weren't going down anymore, and had even creeped up to about 7:20, I did reach one of my goals. I had caught the girl with super long hair in front of me. I picked her out around mile 4 and was determined to catch her. And I did. Yeah.
This 10 mile race hurt. It's a 10 mile race after all. I mean, that's pretty far to run your heart out. I realized I am in fact, now a bona fide multisport athlete.
I missed the swim. I missed the bike! I missed the feeling I have when I start running After the bike.
Final time 1:11.54. Almost 2 minutes off my PR from last year. oh well.
however, I was 2nd in my age group!! Yeah. 118th/686 overall. And to make it even better, Mary was 3rd!!! So fun to get the surprise of hearing my name in that group and then to immediately hear Mary's too!! Yeah girfriend!
Now, my husband. He is some sort of freak of nature athlete. I tell ya....He came in 25 seconds behind me!!! That might not sound so astonishing. I mean, he is a 6'3" man after all. And yes, he runs. But I honestly think he has run 1x/week for the past 5 months. Some weeks, none at all. Some weeks, maybe twice. I am amazed by him And annoyed. :-) In good humor of course. I hope he has passed some of his natural athlete genes down to our kids!! Lucky guy. I just wish he would get out there and train more and we could see what he could really do!!

Next up...A Swim MEET!!!
I haven't been in a meet since March 1992!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait.
Events that day:
100 IM, 200 IM, 50 fly, 100 fly, 50 free, 100 free, and Relays!!