When we arrived at Graham Park 45 minutes early the parking was already getting tight. I pulled the Jeep onto some grass and we went to get our bibs and chips. I'm not sure what the point of chip timing was since there were 593 people and no starting mats. Being only a couple weeks post-marathon I decided there was no point in racing and this would be an easy run. No watch, no hard effort, and hopefully no pain.
Love the shirt
I lined up 6 or 7 people deep and when the gun went off I gritted my teeth as people blasted past me. I hadn't realized there were SO many people there! And I felt my pace start to pick up. I pulled back even more and tried to not be angry that runners were leaving me in their dust. I saw my Team Aquaphor teammate, Jordan, go by and felt another surge of envy. I wanted to race!
And then we hit a small but steep incline and I didn't want to run anymore. Someone said the distance was 0.63 miles and I suddenly just wanted to be done. I pulled my attention from my lack of speed and focused on my form. Stand tall, small arm movements, smooth stride, high cadence. I tried to estimate my pace based on effort. I knew that I was probably going faster than it felt since I was running with such a large group. I guessed I was in the 9:30 per mile range.
At one point we passed the finish line and the clock read 12:4x. I figured I must be around the halfway point, probably a little less based on the time and my estimated pace. As I headed out to the turnaround I counted from the leaders back. I expected to see Shane and as more people went by I started to worry. When I finally saw him I had counted 60 people ahead of him. I still didn't realize just how large this race was.
I rounded the turn and headed back to the finish. People were kicking and struggling to the finish. Rasping breath and coughs and staggering forms were all around me. My breathing was still easy and I felt the urge to find another gear for the finish but I held back. As I passed Shane he yelled out, "27". I figured he meant the clock was already past 27 minutes so I didn't kick. I crossed the mat at 27:0x. I should have FREAKING kicked! Doh!
I'm still pretty amazed that I ran a 27:04 easy race though. That's a big improvement and I feel a great 2013 season coming! The really cool part was finally meeting my Team Aquaphor teammate in person though. I've been following the exploits of these 200 people for most of the year and I feel like I know them.
Jordan and I
Of course, after that it was turkey time! Ash couldn't wait to dig into her 'big chicken' and I love pumpkin pie! Happy Thanksgiving y'all!
How was your day? Did you do a Turkey Trot/Gobble Wobble/Gut Buster?
No comments:
Post a Comment