This morning I jumped out of bed, got into my running gear and then went to let the dogs out. There was white frost covering everything. I went out front and walked to the street, finding slippery spots under the frosty layer that was left behind by last nights freezing fog. This worried me because the race was in an area that is colder and gets more snow and ice than my area.
I wrote my friend who lived near the race and she confirmed that the area there was frosted and icy and at 9am it was 23 degrees. The race was scheduled for 10 am.
Having that small tear in my meniscus (see here) I was worried that any slipping might cause my knee to twist. I decided to NOT run in the race.
HOWEVER, after the temps went up a bit, and hit 35*, I drove to the race site dressed and ready to run. On the way, I saw white frost and ice in all the shadows on the road. Living in Washington state, there are a lot of trees.....and a lot of shadows! I was a little concerned.
At the race site, I found the start/finish balloons were still up. The beer garden was still open and the band was still playing. I walked to the start line and found a layer of ice and almost lost my footing. A race volunteer explained that yeah, it had been icy there all morning and reminded me to be careful. You can see how large the icy patch was in this photo.
The volunteer explained there was ice on the course, but most of it was on the south side of the roads, and very bad on 199th.
My goal for this race was to beat my 12:44 pace from 2012, and to run faster than 12:00 per mile.
On the run, I did find a lot of ice and went from side to side of the streets to avoid the worst patches. As bad as the patch is in the photo below it was by far better than what was on the other side of the road!!
My goal for this race was to beat my 12:44 pace from 2012, and to run faster than 12:00 per mile.
On the run, I did find a lot of ice and went from side to side of the streets to avoid the worst patches. As bad as the patch is in the photo below it was by far better than what was on the other side of the road!!
When I ran up to the finish line one of the volunteers that knew I went out to run my own race starting cheering for me and ran out to greet me with a high five. THAT was awesome!!
Even though there were no other runners out there, I ran HARD for myself. I weigh 12 pounds more this year than I did last year, and it wasn't easy. My heart rate was up there in scary zones even though I felt better than I should have with it at 176-180 for a mile and a half! I had to trust on exertion and began paying real attention to how I felt. Still, I have my annual appointment with cardio on Tuesday.
Pace was 11:33 minutes per mile.
Here I am with one of the race signs.
Even though there were no other runners out there, I ran HARD for myself. I weigh 12 pounds more this year than I did last year, and it wasn't easy. My heart rate was up there in scary zones even though I felt better than I should have with it at 176-180 for a mile and a half! I had to trust on exertion and began paying real attention to how I felt. Still, I have my annual appointment with cardio on Tuesday.
Pace was 11:33 minutes per mile.
Here I am with one of the race signs.
2012 pace - 12:44
2013 pace - 10:32
2014 pace - 11:33
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