Race Recap

First of all, running at night is FUN.

I donned my CW-X compression shorts, a green tshirt, and...

An LED light-up cap from L.L.Bean. You press a button under the brim and light shoots out of the cap. Let me tell you, it puts off A LOT of light. It was like a headlamp! Last Christmas I received the cap from my aunt and uncle (I was thinking, "When am I going to use this!?) and it had its inaugural wearing last night.

I jogged to the race start, which was 1/4 mile away and arrived with 5 minutes before race start. It was starting to get dark and I needed to stretch so I wasn't able to find Sarah, but I did see two friends who live across the street from me.

We took off and I was feeling good. Because my hamstrings were sore I was planning on taking it easy, but if you know me well, you know that plan always goes down the drain. I turned on my cap and when I would approach people from behind, most would turn around because the light was so bright! At one point I passed a couple and I heard them say, "Now that's neat!" and I turned my head and yelled "L.L. Bean!" I was a running advertisement. As dorky as the cap was, it actually proved to be really handy because it was DARK and especially so in the park. Dark in the park. Anyway...

Now, according to my Garmin, we only ran 2.95 miles. It was supposed to be a 3 mile race. Perhaps I started it too late?

Stats:

Total: 26 minutes, 12 seconds
Distance: 2.95 miles
Average Pace: 8:52
Max Pace: 7:01
Lap 1: 8:52
Lap 2: 8:34
Lap 3: 8:45

I'm trying to figure out if I'm able to see Elevation on my Garmin, but I'm not sure yet.

The first lap entailed a small uphill, a small downhill, and then a LARGE uphill once we actually entered the park. The second mile had an extended downhill, flat area, and then the beginning of the other LARGE hill of the Cherokee Park Loop. The final mile (almost mile) had the rest of the hill, a nice downhill, and then the starting hill to finish.

I felt really good. It was pretty warm outside so I could have used a light wind! When it gets that hot I feel nauseous, but my solution is taking deep breaths. I'll take 1 or 2 deep breaths every minute or so and it works! In addition, it gets more oxygen to your muscles than the typical runner's breathing method that only seems to use a small fraction of lung capacity.

Another thing I focus on? My arms. Running is not all legs! I keep my arms at 90 degree angles and focus on pumping them straight out from my side. You WILL go faster. Trust me.

I recovered with my walk home and a protein shake (I'm out of spinach so it wasn't a Green Monster). As I've said before, Whey protein (as opposed to Soy) is great for recovery.

I've been coerced into to going to a Bikram class this morning at 10:30. I'll tell you right here and now that it's not going to be my best class, but I know I'll feel great afterwards!