Friday: elliptical, 40 min
Saturday: Race day! I love this race - the scenery is amazing and it's always a great time. It is hilly by racewalking standards, but a great course meandering along the Colorado River and with so much red rock. Awesome.
I woke up feeling great and ready to go. It's cold at the start (probably 40F, 4C) and I had a coat and hand warmers and gloves and sweats, so I was OK. You have to wait around a while after they bus you up there (about 90 min) but I had put some Kindle books on my phone, so I was entertained. Usually I go with friends and have someone to chat with, but this time I came with just my family, and Calvin was doing the 5-mile race, so I was alone at the start (Loren and Grace spectated).
I didn't warm up. I was just going to do easy pace, so no need. My toes didn't thaw out until about 2 miles (3.2km) into the race, though! By the time the race started at 10 am, it was 12C (about 54F) and perfect race weather; by the finish on the highway into town it was warm but not too awfully hot at about 66F (19C). It was sunny and beautiful, and unlike last year there was just a slight breeze and not a horrid wind. Perfect.
I have done zero hills, though...and so while I felt fantastic through 15-16km, after that my legs just quit. They were DONE. Finished. Tired. No weird soreness, but I just felt like I hit the wall. The elevation increase along the course is 347ft, and the decrease is 424ft. Not too hilly by runner standards, but hilly by RW standards. Jim pointed out that this is probably why I felt so crappy. No matter. I had a great time anyway. Yeah, the last 5km was not too fun, but the rest was awesome, and I am enjoying getting away for the weekend with my family. Course profile here.
I was at 5km at about 31:30, and 10K by about 1:03. After that it got slower :). The course does have a lot more downhill in the first half, so this makes sense. I'm pleased with how I did, even though it was a minute slower than last year, because I am feeling OK (minus the achy/restless legs from overdoing it - but no weird soreness!) and I felt a LOT better in the first 15km than I did last year. Of course, there wasn't the wind, so it's hard to compare.
Total time 2:17:14 for 6:30/km with ave HR 158.
Lots of pictures below! I took photos while RW :).
Garmin data here.
finishers!
2 comments:
Nice post and ...well...it doesn't hurt my feelings (too much anyway) that your "easy pace" is my lifetime walking PR. :-)
Loved the photo spread too.
Thanks for the encouragement Ollie :). Nice to know someone besides my coach and Nyle is still reading this!
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