Monday, May 26, 2008

Cotton Row Run Race Report

This morning in honor of all those who have given their lives for our country I ran the Cotton Row Run. All in all everything went really well... except for the fact that I ran really slowly. Wait, I'm not sure "really" gets the job done. How about extrodinarily slowly? That works.

Coming into the race I knew I wasnt going to have my best performance ever considering I had just raced FL70.3 the week before but I was still hoping to lay down a decent time. When the cannon was fired we took off and I settled into a comfortable pace. In retrospect this was the problem. The pace was comfortable when it should have been fast! First mile was 5:25 at which time I shouldve picked it up and been able to finish with a good time. Key word there being shouldve as I didnt. Then right around the 3 mile mark there was a really steep hill during which the top two girls decided to go ahead and pass me which was pretty awesome. I ran with them for a while until the eventual winner threw in a hard surge to which I didnt respond. I ended up finishing in 34:56 which is pretty pathetic. So basically it was a nice tempo run...

In retrospect I've come to the realization that I can run 5:25 pace all day but faster than that is a hurt that I have just forgotten about. Because I dont run hard and fast in practice anymore I sadly have lost that feeling. To run a good 5k or 10k you really need to do those VO2 max intervals like 5x 1mile w/ 3min rest at 5k race pace but unfortunately I just cant afford the physiological stress which that imposes. Plus, I dont need to be able to run a fast 5k or 10k, I need to run a fast half marathon after swimming 1.2 miles and biking 56. So thats me rationalizing my otherwise shitty race.

The good news is that it was a great day and David had a great race, running 31:50. After the race I went over to a brunch at the house of a guy with whom I work. There was keish, cheese grits, pastries, bagels, freshly made waffles with walnuts and blueberries, fresh fruit, and of course bloody marries and mimosas.

2 comments:

Paulo Sousa said...

So I'm a little confused by your race report... did you get second place in the women's race or what?

Andrew said...

Nope, I was in fact third in the women's race. All the more evidence that I raced like a 12yr old girl.