I signed up for this race after the Total Image Running 10 miler about a month ago. Then found out it conflicted with a very busy weekend of fun with friends. We had friends staying with us from North Carolina and were going to be out at social gatherings day and night. Not to mention the horseback riding the day prior to this event. I hadn’t been on a horse for over 18 years so wasn’t sure how my legs would feel.
I decided to shake out the legs for a couple of miles with Zoey on the Saturday morning and if all was well I would go to the race and run it easy as a faster training session. Ted surprised me by deciding to come with me. He rode his bike and met me at various spots along the course. It was a beautiful morning although too hot with the sun and no shade.
The sun and no shade is pretty much my take away from the Nate 12K route. Starting time was 8:30 sharp with both the 5K and 12K taking off together. A lot of younger runners (kids) get their feet “wet” with the 5K for their very first time. This can be tricky on a crowded course but fortunately that wasn’t the case this year.
We all set out together and since 5K runners will generally take off fast and continue as such, I found myself keeping up with them which I had no initial intention to do. The effort was hard so I kept trying to slow it down. Oddly, that wasn’t working.
The course split at the 2 1/2 mile point with 5K taking a right turn and 12K continuing straight along a trail with the water to the left. Really nice track but no shade. Water stations are prior to getting on this stretch and then again coming off it. Once runners are off the trail, we hit the black topped country roads, again, absolutely no shade with a lot of sunshine. I was getting hot and not feeling great although I did manage some slower miles from 5 to 7. I passed a kid named Connor and believe his dad was riding beside him on a bike, encouraging him all the way. Once we turned toward the finishing stretch, Connor absolutely ripped passed through all the cheers and crowd support. Yay Connor!
It was a good day although much harder than I intended. I only opted to run it since the weekend was busy and there were no race pace expectations so my nervous anxiety would be kept at a minimum. That wasn’t the case: was a bundle of nervous energy,
Mile splits:
7:45, 7:45, 7:41, 7:44, 8:14, 8:04, 8:05, 7:21 Finished 7:54 for 1st place age group win.
Last time I ran this race was 2017 and my pace was 8:12.
A good day and as always, the feeling after finishing a race trumps any pre race anxiety.
Joanne
