Bastille Day 5k
Thursday July 12, 2007
7:30PM
1st Overall Female
Corporate Team 6th out of 48 teams.
Hi Everyone! Well another race, another race report. This one is for the Bastille Day 5k which I ran with my co-workers from NFA. This included fellow ChiaDeads Kelly, Brian, and Paul. This was to be my first race as a masters runner as I turned 40 on June 9th.
Its been a number of months since I've done a 5K and things have really changed since then. I've been training more consistently and with a new positive attitude and I just had this feeling that perhaps I was due for a breakout race soon... I really wanted to do well so I really cut back this week and focused on getting my sleep. I was excited also to be running with a lot of my co-workers and even my husband would be running instead of at home watching the kids. The run I did Wednesday evening was effortless and the strides I did afterwards felt "race ready". I was excited but I didn't want to say too much to anyone...."don't advertise just deliver" an old coach of mine used to say. I did look at last year's results and I'd thought that a top 3 - 5 finish would probably be most realistic but I knew that I was going to fight for something even better.
Well I woke up at 4am to take the car into work so that we (hubby and I) could easily get home after the race. I left the house at 5am, got cash, got gas and was in a parking lot at Monroe and Des Plaines by 5:45am and at my desk at 6am. Then started the long day of trying not to think about the race and do my work. It was so hard. I would be typing and then I would think about hitting my splits and my heart would start racing and I couldn't remember what I was supposed to be doing. Finally the end of the work day came and I got dressed and Andy, fellow ChiaDead Paul, and I started the walk to the car to drop off our stuff and then continue on to the race area. I felt better to be moving and although it was a tad warmer than I thought it would be, it wasn't the oppressive heat of earlier in the week, thank God for that!! We got to the race area and soon after the rest of the crew showed up. Fellow ChiaDeads Kelly and Brian ("Bootsie") were there. Due to Brian's stress fracture he planned on walking the course with his big boot on. Also in our group were many of our co-workers.
Okay that's my race report and therapy session all in one and I'm done!
Next race Xtreme 10 Miler at Waterfall Glenn July 21st.
Peace everyone,
RunnerGirl
Thursday July 12, 2007
7:30PM
1st Overall Female
Corporate Team 6th out of 48 teams.
Hi Everyone! Well another race, another race report. This one is for the Bastille Day 5k which I ran with my co-workers from NFA. This included fellow ChiaDeads Kelly, Brian, and Paul. This was to be my first race as a masters runner as I turned 40 on June 9th.
Its been a number of months since I've done a 5K and things have really changed since then. I've been training more consistently and with a new positive attitude and I just had this feeling that perhaps I was due for a breakout race soon... I really wanted to do well so I really cut back this week and focused on getting my sleep. I was excited also to be running with a lot of my co-workers and even my husband would be running instead of at home watching the kids. The run I did Wednesday evening was effortless and the strides I did afterwards felt "race ready". I was excited but I didn't want to say too much to anyone...."don't advertise just deliver" an old coach of mine used to say. I did look at last year's results and I'd thought that a top 3 - 5 finish would probably be most realistic but I knew that I was going to fight for something even better.
Well I woke up at 4am to take the car into work so that we (hubby and I) could easily get home after the race. I left the house at 5am, got cash, got gas and was in a parking lot at Monroe and Des Plaines by 5:45am and at my desk at 6am. Then started the long day of trying not to think about the race and do my work. It was so hard. I would be typing and then I would think about hitting my splits and my heart would start racing and I couldn't remember what I was supposed to be doing. Finally the end of the work day came and I got dressed and Andy, fellow ChiaDead Paul, and I started the walk to the car to drop off our stuff and then continue on to the race area. I felt better to be moving and although it was a tad warmer than I thought it would be, it wasn't the oppressive heat of earlier in the week, thank God for that!! We got to the race area and soon after the rest of the crew showed up. Fellow ChiaDeads Kelly and Brian ("Bootsie") were there. Due to Brian's stress fracture he planned on walking the course with his big boot on. Also in our group were many of our co-workers.
I started an easy warm up around 6:40pm since I just couldn't stand around anymore. I did my drills around 7pm and then I headed for the start to jog and get ready to do some strides. I was feeling really focused and just wanted this race to start. I was hanging around the start and I bumped into Dave Schaefers. Brother of Ann Schaefers-Coles one of my training partners when I was training for the '96 Olympic trials. I first met him after the trials and he worked out with our club for a few years until I went off to have kids. He was too late to sign up so he offered to pace me and I was totally for that. Oooo I thought I'm really gonna run fast now knowing he would help me to keep myself together mentally through the whole race. I knew I could take some chances with an aggressive pace now. I thought perhaps there were 2 -3 women warming up that looked like they would be my primary challenge. Dave and I talked about what I wanted my opening mile to be, we did our strides and lined up.
Gun goes off. I pick a pace thats not crazy but is definitely on the aggressive side. Mile 5:48, fast but I feel good. I'm breathing hard but the legs are going strong so I just keep at it. Dave is around giving positive comments almost continually. His voice kept my concentration on nothing but the race. We approach the 2 mile and it beyond fast, like world record fast, damn the 2 mile was short, I didn't bother to take a split it wouldn't have meant anything. At this point Dave informs me that there isn't a woman in sight behind me. I decided that I had the luxury to gamble a little so I dig even harder for mile 3 clock. The 3 mile clock gives up a total time of 16:18, again not anything realistic but I just feel it, I know we are cooking so I just keep it going. In this race the finish line is hidden behind a turn (I hate finish lines like that as the sight of that finish line works so well for me when I'm driving for home) so I do what I can to really dig down deep with no finish line in sight. We round the corner and I finish first woman overall with a 16:55.
Dave and I recover and give each other a look concerning the finish time. Short we both say but I'm happy. I tell him I will gps the course and figure out the mile pace and extrapolate what a full 5k would have been. I thank him profusely for all his help and he says he owed it to me for the years I encouraged him during workouts and smacked him around everytime he started to whine and complain (I'm not very tolerant of that especially when I'm working on ignoring my own fatigue). Well I didn't think he owed me anything but he definitely was instrumental in helping me race like I haven't in YEARS. We did a cool down, I said goodbye and I went to meet up with my team.
I ran into Kelly and Paul. Paul's GPS said 2.91 for the distance. Later that evening using http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/ I came up with the very same distance. Kelly and Paul had run great times but were understandably a little miffed about the distance being wrong. I had a feeling once we figured out the average mile paces using the correct distances and then using that to figure out a 5k time that they would be happy. The course was a flat as you can get without stepping on a track, it would be hard not to run a good time. :-)
Once I was home I verified the course distance, figured out my average mile pace of 5:48 which is about a 18:01 5k. I was so excited and really pleased. For years I've been running anywhere from 18:40 - 18:55 and just couldn't seem to get back down any further. Finally, and without a coach. I guess I made the right decision back in January to step back and let go of my coach for a while. The next day both Kelly and Paul figure out their 5k times and I'm happy to report that they both ran very well. PR's for both of them. Kelly is the PR queen!
Brian covered his walk in under 50 minutes (don't remember the exact time) and it was cool seeing him come in, boot and all.
Gun goes off. I pick a pace thats not crazy but is definitely on the aggressive side. Mile 5:48, fast but I feel good. I'm breathing hard but the legs are going strong so I just keep at it. Dave is around giving positive comments almost continually. His voice kept my concentration on nothing but the race. We approach the 2 mile and it beyond fast, like world record fast, damn the 2 mile was short, I didn't bother to take a split it wouldn't have meant anything. At this point Dave informs me that there isn't a woman in sight behind me. I decided that I had the luxury to gamble a little so I dig even harder for mile 3 clock. The 3 mile clock gives up a total time of 16:18, again not anything realistic but I just feel it, I know we are cooking so I just keep it going. In this race the finish line is hidden behind a turn (I hate finish lines like that as the sight of that finish line works so well for me when I'm driving for home) so I do what I can to really dig down deep with no finish line in sight. We round the corner and I finish first woman overall with a 16:55.
Dave and I recover and give each other a look concerning the finish time. Short we both say but I'm happy. I tell him I will gps the course and figure out the mile pace and extrapolate what a full 5k would have been. I thank him profusely for all his help and he says he owed it to me for the years I encouraged him during workouts and smacked him around everytime he started to whine and complain (I'm not very tolerant of that especially when I'm working on ignoring my own fatigue). Well I didn't think he owed me anything but he definitely was instrumental in helping me race like I haven't in YEARS. We did a cool down, I said goodbye and I went to meet up with my team.
I ran into Kelly and Paul. Paul's GPS said 2.91 for the distance. Later that evening using http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/ I came up with the very same distance. Kelly and Paul had run great times but were understandably a little miffed about the distance being wrong. I had a feeling once we figured out the average mile paces using the correct distances and then using that to figure out a 5k time that they would be happy. The course was a flat as you can get without stepping on a track, it would be hard not to run a good time. :-)
Once I was home I verified the course distance, figured out my average mile pace of 5:48 which is about a 18:01 5k. I was so excited and really pleased. For years I've been running anywhere from 18:40 - 18:55 and just couldn't seem to get back down any further. Finally, and without a coach. I guess I made the right decision back in January to step back and let go of my coach for a while. The next day both Kelly and Paul figure out their 5k times and I'm happy to report that they both ran very well. PR's for both of them. Kelly is the PR queen!
Brian covered his walk in under 50 minutes (don't remember the exact time) and it was cool seeing him come in, boot and all.
Even though we are only half way through this year I want to say what a year it has been so far. In January I was tired, burnt out, didn't think I would continue running much longer. I just was having a hard time accepting my slower race times, and I wasn't even sure where running fit in if I wasn't going to be racing fast anymore. I let go of my coach and started feeling sorry for myself. It was then that I started listening to some of the runners around me, really listening to how much they strived for being the best they could, how they built their relationships with other runners to share the road and races with, how they all supported each other. I was really taken back, the running world didn't just exist of runners trying to qualify for the trials, trying to win every race they entered, fighting for the limited amount of prize money that floated around. It was a different perspective and it was starting to make a lot of sense to me. Running for the love of the sport, to be strong, healthly, to have races to run, but most of all friends to share it with. I was on fire again and I felt that I owned my running and not the other way around. I reset my sights and I developed a running schedule that respected my responsibilities as a mother of two children, with a great husband, a full time job, and allowed me to pursue my piano studies. It all seems to be working and although I'm always in pursuit of fast times it is not the only reason I train and step on the starting line. It's turned into much more than that.
Okay that's my race report and therapy session all in one and I'm done!
Next race Xtreme 10 Miler at Waterfall Glenn July 21st.
Peace everyone,
RunnerGirl
3 comments:
I volunteered for the race and wondered about the obviously wrong results at the finish area. The times were ridiculous. We thought there was a timing error, but you prove that it was inaccurate course measurement. Personally, I think there is not excuse for this. It's just lazy. My hope is people will complain to CARA. Chicago Events does a pretty slipshod performance. The mis-measurement was but one problem with this race.
CONGRATULATIONS Janeth!! Awesome race despite the short course. Way to take charge and run your *ss off.
I'm posting the links you provided that map out the course routes.
Short Bastille Day
http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=144068
Correct Bastille Day
http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=137544
Brian
Congratulations on your great race and so sorry it wasn't a full 5k. As you know, I'm miffed about it too but thanks for the accurate measurement because I was able to tell my friend Jess she at least PRd her pace per mile so she should be excited.
I'm really glad to read your back into running. All of us back in the pack need someone up front to pull us across the line.
Have a great summer and I'll track your journey now that I have your blog site.
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