Saturday, March 13, 2010

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! :)

DSC_6681
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! :)

6 comments:

The Green Girl said...

Wow, you just keep going! Good for you.

I didn't realize Google maps had bike directions - that's so cool!

Kitzzy said...

Thanks! Google added bike directions on Monday. They're pretty neat. It even helps you avoid hills :)

The Green Girl said...

Oh, wow! So it's a really new feature.

ShirleyPerly said...

Congrats on both your races, Kitzzy!

I've seen you come into Track Shack to p/u your race packet several times and saw you after the race with Marathon Chris last Saturday. How nice to have your folks there too. Keep up the great work!!

Excellent Half Marathon Adventures said...

Congrats on your races - - and PRs!

Jenn

Kitzzy said...

@Sherley, I thought I recognized you but couldn't put my finger on where. Now I know! :) My dad has been a runner all my life, and my mom started after I did and is now hooked. I love that we can race together.

@ Jenn, thanks! :)

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