Oh..the Rev Run. I did that a "couple" of years ago, turns out in this case a couple is FIVE. In 2011 the weather was very sticky and I was the second to last person to finish. As I was on my last leg of the race, cars were driving by me on River Road. This is probably why the race was not even on my RADAR. I found out Gabrielle was also doing it. I looked at the forecast and saw temperatures would be in the low 70s, with no humidity. With Ashley in Ohio with my parents seeing the cousins, and Don on a long bike ride, I decided to do it.
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| Super Librarian Gabrielle |
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| Julie and Princess Debbie |
I met up with my friends before the race. Gabrielle is super speedy (she beat me by nearly 15 minutes, or 2 1/2 minutes faster per mile). According to what I've seen on Facebook, Julie and Debbie are my pace. Don't believe everything you read on Facebook. Julie gets into race mode and beat me by at least six minutes (meaning she was a minute per mile faster). Turns out Debbie trains at a 5:1 interval pace, with skipping the first interval. I train at 1:30 seconds. We are not a good match. I kept pace with them for about a mile, then started my intervals. I expected to leap frog through the race, but i got ahead of them for about two miles, then Julie took off, and Debbie eventually passed me around the 5 mile mark. I caught up with them and their husbands at the finish line. If I was smart, I would start lengthening my intervals so I can keep pace with them in Paris.
My time was about 3 minutes faster than it was in 2011, but I felt slower. I was getting much faster for a while, and (despite walking between 20,000 and 30,000 steps each day) I lost ground with going to Disneyland.
The more I run, the more I recognize running is mental. I mentioned that to a running friend and she agreed saying it is 90% mental. Well, I wouldn't go that high, but it is more mental than I feel it should be. One of my hold backs lately has been the lack of finding cheap airfare for the Paris race. These days "cheap" airfare to Europe is around $500-600. The day after the race I found airfare for $497, with an 8 hour layover in Iceland. That was enough to perk me up. The next day I ran the fasted two miles in the neighborhood that I have run in ages -- each mile was under an 11 minute pace, as opposed to the race on Monday that was a 12 minute pace. Even accounting for the Rev Run is a 10K (6.2 miles) vs. 2 miles, I felt better and stronger than I have felt lately. I chose the shorter distance to rebuild my confidence and try to get my head back into training.
Unfortunately my new good attitude comes with a heat wave. We have had a nice summer (weather-wise). Now temps are in the 90s with no break in sight. Runs will have to be before I normally wake up, and before I eat breakfast, or in the evenings. As friends reminded me, I still have plenty of time before Paris to train (about 2 1/2 months).
A word about my running outfit. I forgot I have a blue tank top (identical to the pink one I wore) and a red sparkle skirt that would have been more festive. Again, my head has not been into running.
A note about my phone -- when I put it in my running shorts pocket it has a habit of pausing, which means I lost 3/10 of a mile. I suppose I was floating? Hence the need to wear the arm band which is bound to give me one heck of a tan line.