Result: 5:31 and fourth female
Not going to lie, I was dreading this race. 50k training does not lend itself to a fast mile pace. And I wouldn't say that midnight is my best time to run. Best time to snore into a pillow, yes, race an all out mile? No. I was going to need several late-night coffees. But I was driving there with some fun running buddies: Evan, Ian and Dylan and I was looking forward to seeing the Boardman store for the first time. I also skipped out on the Youngstown 10 miler to go to Colorado, so I felt quite obligated to race.
The week before, Dylan had kindly paced me in a 0.75 mile time trial on the roads. It was a typical mile effort for me. Starting at about 4:50 pace and slowing down into my mile pace by about 300 meters. I had 0.76 in 4:00 minutes for a 5:15 pace. I figured that my goal of 5:20-5:30 would be attainable. My road mile pr was from last year at the Circle City Mile (5:36).
The road trip-type atmosphere of driving out there was pretty fun. These are cool guys to hang out with and love running just as much as I do. We got to the Second Sole Boardman location with plenty of time to spare and stored our stuff in the back room with the rest of the Second Sole employees. At 11 p.m. sharp we started our warmup. I saw that Samantha was racing and knew that she would be winning for the women. She ran a 5:01 here last year. We warmed up on the course and realized it was dark, with several sharp turns and a very uneven road surface. I went back to the store to get my singlet on, put on my Saucony Virratas and do a couple of pre-race pees and then went back out to the parking lot to do my drills and strides. Having already downed a slushy and popcorn, Evan decided to hop in the race and joined us in drills and strides and pre-race nerves. By this point I had given myself over to debilitating nerves and just wanted the god damned race to be over. Can I just run a half marathon already?
I got to the starting line with about 10 minutes to spare and jogged a bit more. I also did five run-outs from the starting line. I saw that besides Samantha there were two Second Sole ladies there. I couldn't be sure if they were the two that went 5:15 and 5:24 the year before, but they looked very competent and I decided to try and go with them. I stood right behind them and Samantha at the starting line in the second row of people. The fastest guys were all in the first row. The race took off and the Second Sole girls (their names are Molly and Sara) took off at what seemed like a completely unreasonable pace. Never before have I felt so out of my element, uncomfortable and just plain tired than those first 400 meters. The three top ladies were fast fading from my view and there was nothing I could do about it. I was moving forward as fast as I could. I passed a bunch of too fast starting men and settled into a rythm that was kindly pumping lactic acid into my muscles. I hit the half mile with a young girl hot on my heels in 2:42, possibly 2:44 by the time I passed the clock. This wasn't quite as fast as I wanted at the half but the chick passing me on my right was occupying my mind more than the clock. No, I was not going to get outkicked AND not run the time I wanted. I stayed on her heels for about 200 meters and then she started to die hard. I went around her and took the hard right turn to the final 400 meters. For some reason I couldn't see the finish line. It was dark and the flashing lights of the police just past the finish provided a blinding backdrop. So I didn't kick all that hard, not sure when the finish line was coming up. I nearly slammed into the back of the guy that finished ahead of me, standing in the queue. I was hoping that I'd made it in under 5:30 but no such luck. Possibly with automatic timing I would have been 5:29, but it is what it is.
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| Scoring a pic with the owner of Second Sole, Steve Hixon! Photo credit: Boardman Athletics |
As usual, I was happy and relieved after the race. Glad to be done and ready to relax. I cooled down with Evan and Ian, who had both run good times. We waited for the awards to start and met a bunch of Second Sole employees that we had only known over the phone, asking for shoe shipments! I introduced myself to Molly and Sara and asked them what they were currently training for. They probably thought I was over-curious and crazy. I felt a bit of kinship towards them...maybe just because they are small and dark-haired? My post-race brain function is never the best. I was fourth female and first in my 30-34 age group. We started on the road back to Medina before 2 a.m. and made a food stop at Steak N Shake. I was starving and the taco salad that I chose hit the spot. I think we were the only sober customers in the place. I finally got home just after 3 a.m. The last few miles into Medina I was struggling hard but after I got home I had a difficult time settling into bed. Probably should have saved my shower for the morning but I hate going to bed sticky with sweat and salt! Planning on at least one more mile race on the roads this summer. I may be focusing exclusively on the mile for the indoor season. It makes no sense but I want that 5 teens mile. If I see a 5:19 or under this indoor season, I swear I will never run a track mile again.
Results: http://media.wix.com/ugd/aa0c98_585c79bd06b54ea98fac9554d34865e0.pdf
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