Race Report: Winter Park Road Race Distance Dare (8.2)

This morning I ran the Winter Park Road Race Distance Dare: 2 miles +10K. It was a fantastic race! The weather was perfect, I had my friends and family there, I ran perfect negative splits at both races, and I got 2 PRs! :)

Before the start of the 2 miler with Mom, Dad, Jen and Kerlene

Pre-Race
The race took place on Park Ave, less than 5 miles away, so we rode our bikes there. We got to try out Google maps biking directions, and they worked great. It took us along a nice route of side streets and managed to avoid Mills and Orange Ave entirely. The ride there was a little cold, but it was a great warm up for the race. The ride home was a bit more challenging because my legs were tired and sore from the race, and we had a headwind the entire time.

2 Miler
I first completed this race, my first race ever, 2 years ago. It was the reason I began running in April of 2008, so I've been looking forward to running it again ever since, but missed it last year because I was cheering on Jason at his first triathlon. 2 years ago, I walked most of the 2 miles with a few minutes of jogging sprinkled in and a sprint at the end. Today, I ran the entire 2 miles without walking, and pushed it pretty hard. I almost managed to run it in 20 minutes, but 2.04 miles in 20:47 @ 10:11 min/mile pace (per the Garmin) is pretty damn close! My clock time 2 years ago was 28:54; today's clock time was 20:59. That's almost 8 minutes faster! :)

More Stats:

• garmin mile splits = 2.04 miles in 20:47 @ 10:11 min/mile pace (no walking)
• mile 1 = 10:20
• mile 2 = 10:08
• clock = 20:59 (we had a chip, but there was no mat at the start)
• age group = 16 / 58
• gender = 111 / 381
• overall = 217 / 584

10K
I had a few minutes to spare after I finished the 2 miler, so I found Jason, gave him my arm warmers and buff, got a drink of water, then walked a bit towards the start line. Since I'm supposed to be recovering from the marathon I ran 2 week ago, I did not plan to race this too hard; instead I just wanted to use it as a training run to add millage. However, I really wanted to PR and run it in under 1:10 if the opportunity presented itself.

I told myself that I would not push it too much to make that happen, specially since I had pushed hard during the 2 miler, but I figured that I'm in such great shape from marathon training that I might be able to pull it off without exerting myself too much. To ensure I didn't totally screw myself if I tried to PR, I ran the entire race with 2:1 intervals. This helped me run much faster over all, but still allow for plenty of recovery and prevent injury. The weather was perfect, and I felt great, so I gave it my best shot and it worked! I felt strong the entire race, and I was still able to sprint to the finish in under 1:10!

The Garmin says I ran 6.3 miles in 1:08:36 @ 10:53 min/mile pace! It amazes me that I ran 6.2 miles at a slightly faster pace with walk breaks than I ran the 5 miles without walking at the BCM relay. This is a HUGE 10K PR. My previous official 10K PR was at Disney's Race for the Taste 10K in October 2008, where I finished with a chip time of 1:15:52 (6.34 in 1:15:16 per the Garmin). However, I did run the first 10K of the OUC Half on Dec 2009 in 1:10:31, so I'm happy that I even beat that time and that I finished in under 1:10 even by the clock! :)

More Stats:

• garmin spits = 6.3 miles in 1:08:36 @ 10:53 min/mile pace (2:1 intervals)
• mile 1 = 11:25
• mile 2 = 11:13
• mile 3 = 11:00
• mile 4 = 10:53
• mile 5 = 10:47
• mile 6 = 10:39
• finish (.3) = 8:37 (2:32)
• chip = 1:08:35
• clock = 1:09:50
• overall = 1344 / 1779
• gender = 649 / 981
• age group = 91 / 133

Distance Dare Stats: 

• garmin = 8.34 miles in 1:29:24 @ 10:43 min/mile pace
• chip/clock = 1:29:33 (2 miler clock time + 10K net time)
• gender = 38 / 54

Nutrition
I ate a banana before leaving the apartment, a pineapple gu roctane (no caffeine) before the 2 mile race, and a vanilla orange gu roctane (2x caffeine) about 1.5 miles into the 10K. This most have given me the energy I needed to push through the end.

Post-Race
After the race, I met up with Jason, Jen, Kerlene, and Shannon (whom I have not seen since High School) and we walked over to the Farmer's Market after getting a smoothie sample and eating a banana. We were going to get some omelets, but we all decided to head home instead. After we got home, I had a homemade egg beaters omelet with toast and a homemade smoothie. I was pretty tired and sore, so I took a 2 hour nap, then went for a swim. Now I'm plotting to go get some frozen yogurt, then relax the rest of the evening. I'm going to sleep great tonight! :)