Another warm, humid, hilly race.....another PW. This is getting to be a habit.

 

This was an all‑male race that followed the all‑female Women's Distance Festival in Annapolis, MD. The weather was warm (70s) and very humid. The course was a double loop with about 80% of the two loops the same. Several short, steep hills had to be run twice. If I were a race director, I would call the course "moderately hilly." Of course, we know how race directors lie. J

 

I ran my weekly marathon training LSD....16 miles....yesterday (Friday) afternoon, 18 hours before the race. I considered shifting this week's LSD run from yesterday to tomorrow to have fresh legs for today's race. But I do my long runs on Thursday or Friday and didn't want the disruption to my routine that delaying it until Sunday would have caused. The long run was more important than this race in my marathon training program. In fact, the only reason I ran today's race was for a forum encounter with DebS of the RW Beginners Forum.

 

Meeting DebS was great! I've known her on the forums for longer than 3 years. It was very nice to finally meet her in person. Then, while we were chatting before the race, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to find that it was Grandpa Charlie's daughter, Tracy. That was a pleasant surprise. Deb's boy friend and I watched the women’s race go off, saw Tracy and Deb as they passed by after the first loop, and cheered them across the finish line. Then I headed off for my pre‑race warmup.

 

My race went about as I expected. Much like the 5k race I ran two weeks ago in which I set a PW of 28:07. Although my legs were dead from yesterday's long run during my warmup and I was dripping wet after just a 10 minute warmup, I thought I still might be able to avoid another PW today. However, I didn't know just how hilly the course was or how much yesterday's run would affect me.

 

I ran 28:21 with splits of 9:07, 9:20, 9:09, and :45 (7:04 pace) for the last .1065 mile. My average pace was 9:07. My legs kept reminding me that I had run 16 yesterday. But, they didn't really feel too bad. I had a strong finishing kick. Just couldn't push the pace on the course. All things considered, I'm OK with my race today. It was a good speed workout. I really think that I would have run under 28 minutes and avoided a PW if not for the long run yesterday.....or maybe the problem was not having any great legs to chase after on the course. J

 

DebS will probably post a race report, so I won't reveal her results. But Tracy hasn't been posting for several months, so I don't mind reporting her results. Her time of 20:30 was good for second place in the 25‑29 age bracket and she was about 15th overall. Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk with her after she finished because she left while I was racing and missed the awards ceremony. According to Deb, she was disappointed in her time. Tracy can run 18 minutes. If you read this, Tracy, congratulations on your age group award....and next time stick around awhile. J

 

Regardless of how my race went, it was still my lucky day. I met Deb and saw Tracy again.....and I got a hug from two lovely ladies! J

 

Jim2

 

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