Race Report: UCF Distance Dare 2011

It was a perfect morning for a race, and I added 2 new PRs to my collection at the U Can Finish Distance Dare (5 miler + 2 miler)! Not only did I PR, but I exceeded my expectations/goals for both races and had a blast!

Pre-race: I was around 60º when I woke up, so I debated what to wear. I knew I would warm up quickly, so I still wore a running skirt and short sleeve shirt, but decided to wear leg compression sleeves as they would help keep my calf muscles warm and could only help my performance. It was quite cold when we got to UCF, so I put on my arm warmers and windbreaker jacket for the warm up. I ran an easy mile around the memory mall, and got warm enough to shed both the jacket and arm warmers before the start. I'm really glad I did or I would have overheated during the race. The temperature was perfect for both races and greatly contributed to my performance.

5 Miler: I lined up behind the 10+ pace sign as I was aiming for a 10:30 average pace and didn't want to go out too fast. I wore my dad's Garmin, and I have to say I don't really miss it. Having it in my hand is so easy to constantly check my pace, and I spent the entire race looking at it. I started faster than my planned 11:15 pace, but I was feeling good and not struggling, so kept it up as long as it felt comfortable. I took a gu roctane at the first water stop, just before mile 2, then gradually kicked it into high gear for the last 5K and pushed hard as you can see from my splits: 10:53 - 10:55 - 10:07 - 9:56 - 9:27. Seeing that my last 2 miles were sub-10 gave me hopes of a PR at the 2 mile race. I used 3/1 intervals the whole way.

I used the virtual partner feature to stay on pace, but it stopped the watch when it got to 5 miles, which was just short of the finish line. As is the norm, I ran more than 5 miles since I've yet to master the tangents, but I only have my time for the 5 miles. I was thrilled to finish 15s per mile faster than planned and yet I didn't feel destroyed. My official finish time was 52:06, which is 10s per mile slower, but still a PR by almost 3 minutes. I'll take it! 

5 Miler Results:

• garmin: 51:19 @ 10:15 pace
• chip time: 52:06 @ 10:25 pace
• clock time: 53:10
• overall: 958 / 1436 (67%)
• ag: 56 / 116 (48%)
• gender: 414 / 771 (54%)

*****

2 Miler: I had about 20 minutes between the 2 races, so I hung around the finish line with Jason for a bit. It was just enough time to catch my breath and regain my legs, eat 2 shot blocks, and drink some water before walking over to the start of the 2 milers about 5 minutes before the start. I noticed there was a huge crowd and no starting mat, so I lined up pretty close to start - within the first 5 rows. My goal was sub-20, which I thought would be hard to do on tired legs and no walk breaks, but the weather was just amazing and the adrenaline was still pumping from the 5 miler. 

My plan was to go out hard and try to hang on for dear life. When the horn went off, I took off at a hard pace. I looked at my watch and to my surprise I was averaging 8:30 for at least the first 1/2 mile. I knew I couldn't maintain that the whole time and slowed a bit, but kept pushing to stay sub-9. I ran the whole 2 miles, minus a few seconds at the water stop, and had to talk myself into staying strong and not walking the entire last mile. I just kept telling myself to keep pushing because the faster I ran the sooner I could stop :) As you can see from my splits, my pace was pretty consistent: 8:56 - 8:55. 

My official time was 18:04 @ 9:01 pace, which is a PR by almost 3 minutes, but my pace by my watch was 8:55. Furthermore, I finished 6th out of 65 in my age group (top 9%). I'm in complete shock!  I've come a long way since I toed the line at my first race 3.5 years ago. It was the Winter Park 2 Miler, which I ran in 28:54; today I finished almost 11 minutes faster than that. It's amazing how easy it is to run fast in cooler weather, and how big of a difference a little speed work and consistent training makes on performance. I really need to find 5K to run soon because if I can pull this off for 2 miles without any walk breaks, I can easily run my coveted sub-30 5K.

2 Miler Results:

• garmin: 17:51 @ 8:55 pace
• clock/chip: 18:04 @ 9:01.7 (there was no starting mat)
• overall: 195 / 807 (24%)
• ag: 6 / 65 (9% - holy crap!)
• gender: 68 / 490 (14% - wow!)

*****

Below is a screen capture of my PR collection so far from my running history spreadsheet (http://bit.ly/kitzzyrunprogress). Legend: orange = PR in 2011; light green = sub-12; dark green = sub-11; blue = sub-10. My goal is to have all dates in orange (except the 12K because I didn't run one this year), and the pace column be green or blue by year's end :) I'm well on my way!

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! :)

Race Report: 2 Mile Race in 28:54

@ CNLBank 31st Annual Winter Park 2 Mile Road Race

I walked/jogged my first race today and it was amazing. I walked most of the way, jogged every so often, and sprinted to the finish line in just under 29 minutes (28:54)! I am extatic that I finished under 30 minutes since it has been taking me 35-40 minutes to walk 2 miles. But it is totally different when you are surrounded by other runners and have strangers cheering you on. I had already planned on jugging at the very end as I crossed the finish line; when I neared the finish line and saw that it was less then 3 minutes under 30, the addrenaline kicked in and I sprinted there with over a minute to spare! This really is an incredible feeling and we are already planning the next few races. Next up is a 5k at Windermere on April 12th. My goal for this first 5k is to finish it under 45 minutes, but I haven't even tried to walk this yet, so we'll see.

Here are my official stats for today's race:

Race Length: 2 Miles
1 Mile Time: 14:30ish (I don't remember the exact number)
Total Time: 28:54
Overall Place: 336 / 406
Division (Women 25-29) Place: 30 / 36
Gender Place: 208 / 260

I mentioned having specific fitness goals in my last post; I gave this a bit more thought and here is what I came up with for my current fitness/health goals (will adjust as needed):

- lose the fat on my belly and thighs
- get fit (build appropriate muscle, endurance, and stamina)
- get down to a comfortable weight within the range of my ideal body weight (depending on where you look, somewhere between 105-135)
- fit into size 6 pants (I didn't even think this would be possible, but now size 8 pants are starting to fit loosely, so I think this will be a reality soon)
- run 1 mile without running out breath (eventually I want to be able to run a 5k, but one step at a time)
- walk/jog a 5k (then a 10k)
- complete The Gauntlet at Florida's Finder's Fest at a competitive pace without feeling faint
- complete the Urban Dare at a competitive pace without feeling faint