This afternoon I got to run the Forest of Needwood 5 Miler which is the second oldest road race in Frederick County. Pretty cool. It's a fairly challenging course with lots of rolling hills and little shade so if it's hot - like it was today - you're gonna feel it.
I woke up this morning feeling like I was full of lead again. I felt like that all week but I was really hoping I'd wake up today fresh and ready to go. I considered not running because I was just flat-line in terms of energy, but I knew I'd regret it so I put on my big girl panties, sucked it up and ran.
I was all set to wear this cute little number
The skirt is a little big in the waist, but I've worn it with tights and it was just fine. I took a little jog down the road and it almost fell off. Think I need to take the waist in. Whoops! So I turned around (the race starts w/i running distance of my house) and changed into shorts.
Then as I was standing around waiting for the race to begin, my legs were beginning to feel really warm. Off came the cute socks.
The race started and off we went. It gets a little bigger each year, but there were still probably fewer than 50 people. That's nice because you're not jostling in a big crowd. Not so nice because the crowd thins out and you're often running on your own.
If you click the link above and see my data, you'll see I kept it together for the first 3 miles. A smidge past 3 miles, I caught up with one of the kids from our cross country team and she was struggling mightily. So being the responsible adult I am, I used that as an excuse to stop and walk with her.
Big mistake because I never really pulled it together after that. I felt like I had stopped sweating (I didn't. I was drenched); my head was feeling funky and my legs felt weak. Thankfully the second water stop was at mile 4 so I stopped and downed a cupfull.
I didn't feel much better after that and just slowly plodded to the finish. The last 100 or so yards to the finish are relatively flat and I tried to pick it up for a stunning finish. My legs would have no part of it so I just kept slogging away. Not pretty at all.
Splits:
1 = 9.21
2= 9.26
3= 9.33
4= 11.18
5= 10.02
Official finish time= 49.47
Not a great race in terms of performance but in a lot of ways, I haven't raced in such a long time that I feel like I'm still figuring out how to get my act together in terms of fuel, pacing, etc.
It does sober me a bit as I consider what I need to do for the Harpers Ferry Half. Without a doubt I have to be more disciplined with my strength and cross training so I can train on the hills I need to without injury.
Steady, consistent progress is what I'm looking for. I may need to write that on the back of my hand so I don't forget!
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