Where do I start with this race. The beginning. It was fa-reezing this morning. There was a firepit advertised, but really, it was more like a smoke pit. Lots of people, not a lot of port-a-potties=long lines. Anyway, the race did not start on time, but when it did, at first there was a false-start. (I think they were trying to get us ready for the game tonight) and then we were off. Up a hill...up a long and gradual hill, but a hill none the less. Let me just tell you, for this race, I started at the back of the pack because I didn't want to start off too fast. Do you have any idea how lonely this race was. I understand it was cold, but really there weren't many spectators there to keep you going. Oh, and did I mention we were on roads that were not closed to traffic. Or, did I mention that some random runner right before the race started and the announcement was made that the roads would be open to traffic kindly told me about a runner in Illinois who was hit while running and is in Intensive care? (No, I forgot to tell you, oh wait, DID NOT calm my nerves at all!) Anyway, at the top of the first hill the road curved to the left and up another gradual hill. I believe mile 1 was seemed to be the fastest mile. Anyway, we continued to weave through a neighborhood and before you know it, the fast runners started on their way back while I was trying to just get to the turn around point. Today was my first experience with water stations, and there were 2 of them. Mile 2 had one, and while I believe only a sip of water actually made it into my mouth, it was actually nice to wear some of it. I know mile 3 was only a mile, but it seemed like it took forever to get there, maybe that is because I knew that was the turn around point. Anyway, the turnaround came and went, and then at mile 4 was another water station. This time, I was greedy and took 2 cups, managed more to drink than wear, and then the pain began. Not like injury pain, not like over training pain, just pain. Pain in my feet at the balls of my feet. It went from the balls of my feet to the toes. What do you do at 4 miles, but I pushed it. I also wanted to make sure that I held myself accountable to all those training runs and run sub 11 minute miles. I know that may not seem fast to you, but I have only been running since Sept '11 and my 2 prior 5Ks were run at paces between 11 and 11:30. I knew I could do faster than that, so I made sure each one of my miles was sub 11. Back to the pain. I couldn't get it off of my mind. I tried to change my music, I tried to turn it up. I tried to lose myself in the scenery. NOTHING worked, but I knew I came to far and worked to hard to give up. Fast forward to mile 5. Couldn't have come soon enough! I don't really remember much about that mile, I just know that it was down hill and the pain in my feet was constant now. Somewhere around mile 6, I ran into my friend Jan from work, which helped me keep going, and shortly after that I ran into my friend Roger, from Breakfast Club Runners. Seeing him at the end always helps me through...this time more so than ever! The pain in my feet was so bad, I was near tears, but I knew I had to finish. I crossed the finish like in 1 hour 6 minutes. A time I was happy happy with, but I know, had I been pain free, I might have been able to go faster. After the race, the line to the club house was way too long, and Pizza was on the menu. Who wants greasy pizza after a run? Not this girl. So, I skipped the pizza, went after the drinks instead and grabbed an apple instead.
Will I run this race again, most definitely! I hope they give better post race food next year. Maybe metals for all finishers? Wishful thinking, yes, I know. Hopefully next year, more spectators, warmer weather.
I give this race an A, but post run B+.
Thanks to my running family and Jacobsburg Park for giving me some insane hills! At least I felt equipped to handle them, albeit slowly!
Showing posts with label race recap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label race recap. Show all posts
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
Race Recap and other stuff...
This is a long overdue race recap, but with my laptop being on the fritz, I try to write when I can. So, on to the recap.
New Year's Eve, I ran the Peeps Fest 5K. Yes, those yellow marshmellow chicks you get at Easter are made in the town where I live, and yes, they have a mascot and a volkswagen beetle with a big chick on top. Yes, the beetle is yellow. Anyway, onto the race. We couldn't have asked for better weather, and lately is has been more like spring around here than winter. The race started at where the Old Bethlehem Steel was located and the venue was awesome. There was stuff to do for the entire family, there was even a mascot race, where the Peep, along with mascots from the local universities and colleges ran. Then there was the kids race, all which led up to the 5K. There were a lot of people there, and we were all crammed onto an artery that used to be one of the main roads in an out of the Steel. My first complaint is that walkers managed to weasle themselves in front of the runners, which was the first obstacle from the beginning we had to navigate around. Next, random (although I am not so sure how random they really were) steel artifacts were to be navigated. Throw them in with 500+ runners and what a maze it was. The staff at the race did a great job making sure we knew the path, but they did an even better job blocking off the roads for us. We went across 2 bridges for this race both of which had beautiful scenary. After the second bridge, we started our return trip to the finish. We ran past the local casino, and I have to give the cops a great deal of respect because the people leaving the casino were NOT happy with the fact that they couldn't leave the casino because of the race. Finally at the last corner to the finish, you could see all the spectators. They even had a local high school cross country team at the corner cheering you on. Then came my bad dash to the finish, which I found out later all the fans were cheering me on because of how fast I was going. (My cousin who is an avid runner and one of the people who got me running always tells me to make sure not to get passed that last .1...so, I finish hard to make sure that I don't). Anyway, finally as you cross the finish line you are "herded" into a cattle shoot, supposedly in the correct order. This race did not have chip timing, although if it remains as big in the future as it was this time, I cannot see how they won't make it chip timing.
Now, onto the cons...
Did I mention about the steel structures we had to navigate. They were along the side of the road at the beginning, but soon became part of the race path so you had to dodge them.
Next, the walkers. I am glad to see that many people walk the 5K, but maybe the walkers could have started after the runners. It is not safe, and takes some of the fun out (in my opinion) to have to dodge walkers just because they think they won't get passed if they are in front of you.
The distance. A 5K is supposed to be 3.1 miles...this race was not. It was 3.29 which in the 5K world is too long!
Not having chip timing. Now, I am not race expert, but, I can tell you the difference chip timing makes. The time that I had when I crossed the finish line and the time that they "figured out" were not close. Now, when I ran my first race, the time I had and the time they had were off by like 5 seconds. What a difference that makes.
Anyway, the fact that it was my second race of 2011, and well the 2nd race of my career will not deter me from running the race again next year. Maybe next year they will get chip timing and provide tech t-shirts, maybe we will continue to get long sleeve shirts and no chip timing. Either way, it was a great trip through Bethlehem.
Now, on to the other stuff...
Yesterday I met up with my running club for what I thought was going to be a scenic run of like 6 miles. 6 miles is the longest I have run at this point so I knew I could handle it. I am not the fastest runner in the group, ok, I am always bringing up the rear, so when I saw that this run was going through the woods, let me just say I was SCARED. Not of going through the woods, but of getting lost being the caboose of the group. Well, let me just say that this day, one of the faster runs ran at my pace because he is recovering from an injury. At least I had someone with me in case we got lost. Next, 2 of the other fast runners always waited for us to catch up in case we lost our way. (they kept telling me they appreciated the wait because it gave them time to recover). Let me just tell you that this run was NO JOKE. The first mile went directly up hill and even involved some steps! Every time we got to a point they would tell me only "one more hill" I heard that like 12 times. It really didn't feel like we were gone for almost 2 hours, but when we hit the 5.76 mile mark, I hit a wall. But how the heck do you stop in the middle of no-where?....
(For the sake of me having another post this week, I will stop there...stay tuned tomorrow for the rest of this story)
New Year's Eve, I ran the Peeps Fest 5K. Yes, those yellow marshmellow chicks you get at Easter are made in the town where I live, and yes, they have a mascot and a volkswagen beetle with a big chick on top. Yes, the beetle is yellow. Anyway, onto the race. We couldn't have asked for better weather, and lately is has been more like spring around here than winter. The race started at where the Old Bethlehem Steel was located and the venue was awesome. There was stuff to do for the entire family, there was even a mascot race, where the Peep, along with mascots from the local universities and colleges ran. Then there was the kids race, all which led up to the 5K. There were a lot of people there, and we were all crammed onto an artery that used to be one of the main roads in an out of the Steel. My first complaint is that walkers managed to weasle themselves in front of the runners, which was the first obstacle from the beginning we had to navigate around. Next, random (although I am not so sure how random they really were) steel artifacts were to be navigated. Throw them in with 500+ runners and what a maze it was. The staff at the race did a great job making sure we knew the path, but they did an even better job blocking off the roads for us. We went across 2 bridges for this race both of which had beautiful scenary. After the second bridge, we started our return trip to the finish. We ran past the local casino, and I have to give the cops a great deal of respect because the people leaving the casino were NOT happy with the fact that they couldn't leave the casino because of the race. Finally at the last corner to the finish, you could see all the spectators. They even had a local high school cross country team at the corner cheering you on. Then came my bad dash to the finish, which I found out later all the fans were cheering me on because of how fast I was going. (My cousin who is an avid runner and one of the people who got me running always tells me to make sure not to get passed that last .1...so, I finish hard to make sure that I don't). Anyway, finally as you cross the finish line you are "herded" into a cattle shoot, supposedly in the correct order. This race did not have chip timing, although if it remains as big in the future as it was this time, I cannot see how they won't make it chip timing.
Now, onto the cons...
Did I mention about the steel structures we had to navigate. They were along the side of the road at the beginning, but soon became part of the race path so you had to dodge them.
Next, the walkers. I am glad to see that many people walk the 5K, but maybe the walkers could have started after the runners. It is not safe, and takes some of the fun out (in my opinion) to have to dodge walkers just because they think they won't get passed if they are in front of you.
The distance. A 5K is supposed to be 3.1 miles...this race was not. It was 3.29 which in the 5K world is too long!
Not having chip timing. Now, I am not race expert, but, I can tell you the difference chip timing makes. The time that I had when I crossed the finish line and the time that they "figured out" were not close. Now, when I ran my first race, the time I had and the time they had were off by like 5 seconds. What a difference that makes.
Anyway, the fact that it was my second race of 2011, and well the 2nd race of my career will not deter me from running the race again next year. Maybe next year they will get chip timing and provide tech t-shirts, maybe we will continue to get long sleeve shirts and no chip timing. Either way, it was a great trip through Bethlehem.
Now, on to the other stuff...
Yesterday I met up with my running club for what I thought was going to be a scenic run of like 6 miles. 6 miles is the longest I have run at this point so I knew I could handle it. I am not the fastest runner in the group, ok, I am always bringing up the rear, so when I saw that this run was going through the woods, let me just say I was SCARED. Not of going through the woods, but of getting lost being the caboose of the group. Well, let me just say that this day, one of the faster runs ran at my pace because he is recovering from an injury. At least I had someone with me in case we got lost. Next, 2 of the other fast runners always waited for us to catch up in case we lost our way. (they kept telling me they appreciated the wait because it gave them time to recover). Let me just tell you that this run was NO JOKE. The first mile went directly up hill and even involved some steps! Every time we got to a point they would tell me only "one more hill" I heard that like 12 times. It really didn't feel like we were gone for almost 2 hours, but when we hit the 5.76 mile mark, I hit a wall. But how the heck do you stop in the middle of no-where?....
(For the sake of me having another post this week, I will stop there...stay tuned tomorrow for the rest of this story)
Friday, November 25, 2011
Race Recap
I am by no means a race expert, so I probably shouldn't be doing a race recap. However, since this was my first time doing The Pumpkin Pie 5 K I think that I can tell my perspective of the race. First off, wow! I didn't expect that many people. There were over 1000 people running or walking this race. When you first got there to check in they had you go to one section to get your race bib and goodie bag. Then you had to go another section to get your timing chip and then you had to figure out how to attach the running chip to shoe which looked way more difficult then it turned out to be.
The race started promptly and went directly up a hill, but it started on a normally busy street where the residents who live there did not move their cars. So you have 1000+ people trying to run up a hill and you have to dodge parked cars. They did have the walkers take a different path so that was nice, at least we didn't have to dodge walkers the entire run. There were a lot of hills! I mean a lot. You can check for yourself here. Every time I thought we had reached the peak, it felt like there was another. I ran hills for as part of my training, so I knew that I could handle them. But back to the race. They did have someone at the first and second mile mark telling you your times, and I thought the second mile seemed to past much faster than the first. I guess that could be due to the fact that while I did not want to start off too fast, I think I did. After the 2nd mile marker, I just kept following the crowd through the neighborhoods. Some where around mile 3, the walkers shoot back onto the same path as the runners and how the enter the race path, it felt like as a runner I had to dodge them. Oh wait, and more parked cars. At the final turn, there were lots of fans to get your blood pumping, and seeing them and my cheering section allowed me to turn up the heat. I did want to turn it up sooner, but as I previously said I had to dodge the walkers. Anyway, onto that final stretch with everyone cheering you on and seeing that finish line I just had to push harder! I sprinted and even heard a fellow runner (someone who finished way before me) cheer me on for turning on the heat at the end.
Overall it was a good race. I don't know if I would say it was a fun race, maybe if I had someone to run it with it would have been more fun, but it definitely was a race of the mind.It looked like they had a lot of refreshments at the end, but I didn't wait to check them out. Maybe next race I will make sure to see the vendor section! All in all I am glad that I did the race and I am looking forward to doing some more. I am proud of how far I came in 11 short weeks and look forward to whatever running adventures come by way.
I never thought I would like running, but today, I felt like a runner!
The race started promptly and went directly up a hill, but it started on a normally busy street where the residents who live there did not move their cars. So you have 1000+ people trying to run up a hill and you have to dodge parked cars. They did have the walkers take a different path so that was nice, at least we didn't have to dodge walkers the entire run. There were a lot of hills! I mean a lot. You can check for yourself here. Every time I thought we had reached the peak, it felt like there was another. I ran hills for as part of my training, so I knew that I could handle them. But back to the race. They did have someone at the first and second mile mark telling you your times, and I thought the second mile seemed to past much faster than the first. I guess that could be due to the fact that while I did not want to start off too fast, I think I did. After the 2nd mile marker, I just kept following the crowd through the neighborhoods. Some where around mile 3, the walkers shoot back onto the same path as the runners and how the enter the race path, it felt like as a runner I had to dodge them. Oh wait, and more parked cars. At the final turn, there were lots of fans to get your blood pumping, and seeing them and my cheering section allowed me to turn up the heat. I did want to turn it up sooner, but as I previously said I had to dodge the walkers. Anyway, onto that final stretch with everyone cheering you on and seeing that finish line I just had to push harder! I sprinted and even heard a fellow runner (someone who finished way before me) cheer me on for turning on the heat at the end.
Overall it was a good race. I don't know if I would say it was a fun race, maybe if I had someone to run it with it would have been more fun, but it definitely was a race of the mind.It looked like they had a lot of refreshments at the end, but I didn't wait to check them out. Maybe next race I will make sure to see the vendor section! All in all I am glad that I did the race and I am looking forward to doing some more. I am proud of how far I came in 11 short weeks and look forward to whatever running adventures come by way.
I never thought I would like running, but today, I felt like a runner!
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