I'm writing a race report for a tune up race (the goal race is a half next weekend) in big part because I've been listening to Running Rogue podcasts thanks to Wilson and I think this is a good addition to the goal statement, visioning and other pieces of the process they recommend. I'm getting a LOT out of their advice.
I needed to run an easy 8 this morning. Haven't had the best training season due to an ankle sprain on trail 2 months ago. But I've been gunning for my goal anyways...or I thought I had a goal (PR my CLE half) but now I realize that's not really a goal.
So a friend reminded me this morning of the last race in the Race to the Taps series. 5k or 8 miles on the country roads around Bold Rock Cidery. They're run by a friend who puts on really good races and I was excited to get reasonably small rolling hills (just one big one) in an area I've never run before.
All I wanted to do was try out my race plan: run the first 10 miles at goal pace and then if I felt good, speed up by 20-30 seconds over the last 3 miles. I also wanted to run a negative split race. Since it was 2 4-mile loops I knew that part would be easy to go for mentally. I was supposed to run it easy and smooth and not race it. Oops.
I went out at a little faster than goal pace and felt totally fine. Hit a little hill around half a mile in that thinned the crowd a bit and I started passing people. Also slowed it down to race pace there. Ended up passing quite a few people on the hills (esp the big hill) and only got passed by a couple, mostly at the water stops. They had water at 2/4/6 and while I probably could have bypassed some, I was practicing for Indy.
Finished the first 2 miles just a tiny bit slower than goal pace (which is what I want for my half), 3 and 4 had me finishing a little bit faster than goal. And it still didn't feel tough at all. Having finished the loop I knew just what I was in for and decided I could push a little harder. I ran mile 5 nearly 30 seconds under goal and 6 almost as fast, due to the big hill. Hit the water stop one more time and then pushed harder again. In mile 7 I passed almost 10 people and while it finally felt like effort, it wasn't that tough to run 30 seconds faster than goal. Passed a guy on a downhill who had been running a really strong race about half a mile before the finish. Coming into the shoot he bumped me as he went by so it was on: we both kicked hard and people were clapping and he finished just before me. It was kind of cool just to be racing with a strong runner, both of us using it to finish that much faster.
Ended up finishing the 8 miles in 1:05 or with an 8:14 average pace. I stuck around for the awards and ended up winning first Masters female which was a surprise because there were plenty of fast runners there.
This bodes really well for the flat Indy Monumental Half next weekend. Now I have a big goal in mind that I'm not quite ready for (1:45 half) but it'll be fun to see how close I can get if conditions are right.
