HAPPY 4th and a race report from Shriners 8K

Shriners was the last spring road race of the PAUSATF series and while our Aggies men fielded complete teams in the Open and Masters divisions, our women's team was made up of just Heather, Tara and me.














To put things into perspective, Heather ran in the 2008 Olympic Track and Field Trials (10,000 meters) and is a standout distance runner. That's her in the photo. Tara is an 18:00 5K runner (and she just started running 2 years ago, folks). And then there's me. Hahaha. 'Nuff said. When Heather learned that it was just the 3 of us she said, "Then we have to represent."

I wanted to run this race as close to my 10K PR per-mile-average time as possible (6:38/mile), bearing in mind that I am still working my way back to the shape I was in when I ran that 10K PR last summer. But on the flip side, I said I'd be happy with a per-mile-average of 6:45s. I'm going by what my Garmin said because I crossed the start line about 6-7 seconds after the gun (it was crowded and I did not start at the front for obvious reasons, i.e.: too slow). I promise I did not look at my Garmin until I crossed the finish line, and I just hit the lap button at each mile marker. I tried to run tangents as best as possible.

Here are my splits:
Mile 1 6:50 @ 1.03 miles
Mile 2 6:46 @ 1.01 miles
Mile 3 6:50 @ 1.01 miles
I missed the last mile marker so my time for the last 2.02 miles was 13:36. (6:44/mile average for those 2 miles).
Overall distance (per Garmin) was 5.07 miles.
Overall time (" ") was 34:04.
Overall pace (" ") was 6:43/mile.
5th place in age group 35-39.

I felt really good throughout the race. When I started to feel the lactic acid take over, I backed off a little for fear of bombing in the last mile. Whenever things felt tough I told myself that everyone else was hurting, too. And when I really just wanted to jog I told myself, "This is the last race you'll run before you graduate to the 40-44 age group. Make it a good one." I felt strong and steady, but when I crossed the finish line I was definitely spent! It felt good to give it my all.

I passed 8-9 people between the first mile marker and the finish line (I counted the runners to motivate myself), but I got passed in the last mile by two Masters Men. They helped pull me in. All in all a great race, very pleased with my effort. Feels good to be feeling healthy again!

The Aggies Men (both masters and open teams) won! Heather was 2nd female finisher... but she drove all night to get to the start and got one hour of sleep. And Tara PR'd and won her age division in the 30-34 bracket. Solid!

Pete Magill, just an amazing coach, won the Masters Division and placed 10th overall... beating MANY, MANY younger men in the Open division. I actually got to meet him in person after the race, as he ran up on Tara and me while we were jogging our cool down. I am so pleased with the workouts and advice he has given me! I've said that many times before and what luck that I found him.

Next up is a local 10K on July 11. I won it last year, but I don't know if that will happen this year. Again, my goal is just to improve upon my most recent race. If I do, superb! If I don't, no big deal. There are many races to be run and I'm just thankful I can run them.