Canyonlands 5-miler

It went just about how I thought it would. Hmmm, wonder if it was a self-fulfilling prophecy? Well, I thought I'd be able to do about a 10-min/mile pace, and that's what happened. 49:52 chip time, 17th of 57 in my age group (put on FB 17/53, but some more people finished after I looked @ the results), 9:58/mile or 6:12/km. Compared to last year, it was slow...I did the 1/2 marathon at a 10:04 pace last year! However, I cannot compare it with that at all. It's a totally different race. I wasn't trained at all! Big difference.

I am actually pleased, because 1) my foot doesn't hurt after a hard 5-mile race followed by a 3-mile hike (to Delicate Arch :)), and 2) I raced hard and did my best, and 3) I had FUN! I missed racing! This is my 1st race since the Portland Marathon on Oct 4th last year.

The first mile was interesting - I dropped my iPod, took off hat and gloves, etc. Wardrobe adjustments! I guess I haven't raced in a while, huh? Split was 9:58.

In the second mile, I realized that though I FELT like I was pushing really hard, I wasn't. At least, not by my heart rate. It was only 157 on average. Hmmm. I guess that's what lack of training does. The scenery was great, though, and the hill? Steep but short. Split was 10:00.

The third mile started to get painful. About the halfway point we left the beautiful canyon behind for highway 191, which is the ugliest part of the race. It started to get a little warm. It wasn't actually that hot; the temps were mid-40s (7 or 8 C) and I had on tights and a long-sleeved shirt, which is normally fine. I guess it was just the black road and the sun. Plus my lack of hard training was showing. My legs felt tired. Drat. Split was 10:07

The fourth mile felt worse but was actually better. I kept trying to keep up with an older guy who was spitting every 30 sec or so. I was worried he'd hit me and I wanted to pass him. I finally did pass him at the beginning of the 5th mile. Anyway, I was able to push a little harder and my split was 10:00 again with an average HR of 161.

The last mile just HURT. Yeah, I really felt the lack of training. I pushed as hard as I could and still my average HR was only 168. Usually in the last mile of a hard race it's in the 170s. But I just didn't have it today. I've never been so undertrained for a race, so I'm not surprised. However, the positive was that I managed a negative split and the last mile was ever-so-slightly uphill. I had 9:53 on my Garmin but that's at least 3-4 seconds too long since I waited several seconds to hit stop.

It was so great to be out there again, even if most of the race was relatively painful. Everything hurt, except my foot, which is great news. I'm going to start training hard again soon. Will talk to my PT on Tuesday and see, but I think I'm good for some tempo work now and some speed work soon after.

I noticed in a few pictures my husband took at the finish that I was leaning forward a bit again. Hmmm, may have to focus on form a little more. But probably it was just because I was tired from lack of training.

Side note - my swimming coach (who is also a runner) finished 4th in her age group (30-34) in the 1/2 marathon. Wow!

Here are more pictures.