This past Sunday I took on the first race in the Frontrunners Island Race Series – the Prairie Inn Pioneer 8K. I’d never done this race before and didn’t really know what to expect coming out of the holiday season – what with being all plumped up and lazy after two weeks of active recovery.
That said, there wasn’t a whole lot of expectation. The note on my calendar from Kelly went a little something like this: “Run this as an even steady-strong effort, but I would like to have you say at the end that you could have run faster.”
This was the perfect thing for me to hear. Essentially, run it hard, but don’t kill myself. There was no pressure and in the end, I was pretty happy with the race and had a lot of fun.
My calf has been bothering me a bit again lately (I’m sure it’s because I've been slacking on the massage and stretching routine that kept it loose and functioning through Ironman last summer), so when Kirsten and I did a bit of a warm up and it felt super tight and unhappy I was a little concerned for what lay ahead. I stretched the ol’ calf out as best I could before the race and it seemed to help.
I didn't really go out very fast – more because I hate weaving through the crowd then anything – but by 1km in, I had managed to find some open space and was getting into a good pace. The downhill slope of Wallace Drive was definitely helpful for finding and settling into a nice rhythm.
This rhythm carried through the 3km mark, and even as we turned onto West Saanich Road and the little bit of uphill, I felt good. I felt relaxed. Around the 4km mark I noticed I was starting to pass more and more people and that I was pulling away from people I had been around from the start. There was definitely something about this that was encouraging, as I was still feeling pretty strong.
I continued to feel this way – strong, but like I could be going harder – up until about 1km to go, when it turned into an all out effort. At this moment, a girl who looked very much like she would be in my age group passed me. She went by fairly easily, but stayed only about 10-15 feet ahead of me. I got a tad competitive and just couldn’t let her go. (I think Kirsten’s competitive nature has rubbed off on me a little).
As we turned the corner into the Saanich Fairgrounds and up towards the finish line, I surged. I passed her, feeling strong and like I had left her in my dust. Then she came back! I think I actually began to laugh as I kicked again. We jockeyed back and forth like this right to the finish line, where I think I may have edged her out by about half a step (although, I think she got me on the chip timing by about 6 seconds and, it turns out she wasn’t even in my age group, haha). Regardless, it was really a fun way to finish the race! (I just hope my competitor felt the same way and didn’t think I was a jerk for trying to out sprint her for like 311th place).
In the end my chip time was 38:57. I believe this was the first time I’ve run 8k under 40:00 and had an average pace of less than 5:00/km over this distance. So the fact that I did feel so relaxed through the race was a definite bonus and was really encouraging.
Otherwise, I've just realized this is my first post of the new year... HAPPY 2011 everyone!
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