Made it through my training session and to another years race. I'm pretty much down to one race a year at this point so this is my fitness test. I've been training better than I have for a couple years so came into the day with decent expectations.
My original goal was to break 21 minutes but my build up went slow and come race day I was fairly certain that I wasn't quite there yet. Probably in a month or two and maybe even in a week or two but not quite yet. No matter... 2 years ago I ran the race after taking 2 months completely off and ran 24:55 and last year I did a bit of training but nothing focused and ran 22:19 so I at least knew I was somewhat prepared to run and was ready to be satisfied with whatever time I got.
I woke up way to early at 4 am but couldn't get to sleep so I eventually got out of bed and started preparing with allergy meds and Mucinex to get those airways clear and clean. Walked around the neighborhood a bit to get loose and then eventually woke Maya up to get her ready. Kenna had planned to walk it but we couldn't get her out of bed so it was just Maya and I.
We left the house at 7:30 and started jogging over to the race. During our jog we met up with the rest of the middle school girls XC team so Maya joined up with them and I split off on my own. I warmed up for about a mile at a real slow pace and was starting to get hot already. The temperature was 77 degrees but it was sunny and humid.
At the starting line I didn't feel my best but I felt okay. Sometimes my legs feel off the day of a race but I've found that once the race starts that doesn't necessarily mean anything. I lined up right near the front this year so save a few seconds and at 8 oclock we started.
I took off a little too fast but kept calm and once my nerves settled I was able to settle into a pace. There's always a ton of people who go out to fast at these races and I always try not to be one of them. I think I did okay, staying relaxed, and passing quite a few people between .25 and .5 miles. After that everyone kind of settled in. I hit the first mile at 6:40 pace which was reasonable. It was probably a bit too fast for my current fitness but not beyond what I was trying to accomplish. After the first mile I tried to really relax and just cruise the 2nd mile without letting up to much. I ran the 2nd mile at 6:59 pace and managed to pass a few more people. The third mile I was starting to really hurt. My HR had hit 170 by the end of the first mile and so at this point I was red-lining for a while. I tried to grin and bare it. I ran by my house and tossed off my sunglasses. The back stretch past my house is where I really start to question myself. Why not just give up? What's even the point? I could always just jog. I tried to just relax. I still passed a few more people and still averaged 7:05 for the third mile so didn't slow down too much. With a 1/4 mile left I came around the final turn. HR was at 179 but I could see the finish so now I started to speed up. There were two more people ahead of me and I caught them with about 200 meters to go and just in case they responded I really started to push. I pumped my arms and pumped my legs and really let loose. HR hit 183 at the finish line which is higher than I thought it could actually go.
I finished with a time of 21:20 which was about exactly a minute faster than last year. Maya finished behind me at 23:06 which was a couple minute PR for her. After the race we went home, cleaned up, and then walked back for the award ceremony.
For awards, Maya and I both came in 3rd for our age groups. I was happy to medal and particularly happy that Maya got a medal. The 45-49 M and 11-14 F are some of the more competitive age groups so it was nice to place. The guy who came in first in my age group ran 17:09 but the guy who came in 2nd came in at 20:25 so second could be in reach next year. Most importantly, the guy who game in 4th was 4 seconds behind me which means he was one of the 2 people I passed in the last 200 meters. Maya was 1 second behind 2nd place and 7 seconds ahead of 4th so a tight race. Also lots of local XC competitors in the race that she will be facing this year. Hopefully starting out so far ahead of last year is a good sign of things to come for her.
Overall, I was very content with my effort and my time. My HR was in the 160s for most of the race last year and peaked at 175 but it was also 61 degrees at race time instead of 77 degrees. I'm pretty much acclimated to the heat this year but I'm sure it still would have helped to have it a little cooler. I think it just means that I was conditioned to go faster and push harder this year. At this point I'm just finally starting to get back into shape so if I can keep with it and stay consistent for another year than maybe I can get back under 20 minutes.
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