Monday, June 16, 2014

Heart and Soul 10k Recap: Rain and No Garmin

I got up Saturday morning to a 20% chance of rain.  When I looked out the window it was sprinkling.  It wasn't long before it was raining pretty hard.  My kids thought I was "crazy, brave and tough" for doing a run in the rain.

By the time I drove into town the rain had quit and it was a beautiful morning for a race.  Temps were in the low 50s and it overcast, slight breeze.  The 5k started at 8 am and while that was going on I had my gait analyzed. I will discuss that in another post or this will be really long!

I tried to turn on my Garmin 10 minutes before the race started. I figured that should be enough time for it to find satellites.. Wrong. By the time the gun went off it was still searching.  UGH.  I started the timer anyway hoping it would latch on to a satellite soon.  Spoiler: IT NEVER DID.  It was really cloudy and raining the first three miles of the race, but it usually still manages to find a satellite within 5 minutes even when it is cloudy.

Moving on from that.  I have not run a race by feel since I ran a 5k like that years ago and PRd.  The rain had just picked back up when the gun went off and it felt wonderful.  The first two miles of the race I felt like I had perm grin.  I was using an 11 year old girl to pace myself. It's true.

She had finished just ahead of me at the last race (a five mile race) so I figured if I kept her in my sights I would be pretty close to where I wanted to be.   Miles 3,4, and 5 felt really long.  Mile 6 and the last .2 were mostly downhill and felt like it just flew by.

After the first two miles with no Garmin, I decided that even if it did find a satellite I wanted to continue to pace off the little girl and run by feel.  I was really hoping for a roughly 7:20ish pace.

Right at the end of mile 5/beginning of mile 6 I can't remember, near the end,
we have to run up four levels of a parking garage.  Talk about rough, but at that point I knew once I got out of the garage it was downhill or level.

How I felt overall .. great!  Tired at the end so I know I pushed hard.

Three out of the four Team Beef Montana members present

Would I choose to do it again without my Garmin?  That's a hard one.  On one hand I really enjoyed not stressing about pace and distance too much and just enjoying the run.  I even high fived some of the volunteers during miles 2 and 3 until I started getting tired and had to focus on running more.  On the other hand, I really like knowing my pace and keeping on track with goals, pace, etc.

I don't feel like I was in it very much mentally.  I think having no Garmin and rain threw me for a loop, which is funny because usually I am really on with my mental game. I mantra my whole way through races sometimes after the first mile. I really loved running in the rain though that can happen every time!

Final results chip time was 45:52 with a pace of 7:23
53 out of 515 overall
14th out of 320 women
2 out of 45 in my age group.  The girl who beat me did so by ten measly seconds!  so close!!

That is pretty much a 7:22ish pace which was my goal.

16 comments:

  1. Congratulations! That is amazing you pretty much hit your goal pace running by feel. Do you think you would have run faster/slower with the garmin?
    Too funny you used the 11 year old as your pacer :)

    I'm definitely interested in hearing more about your gait analysis!

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  2. Great job on your race! Since I live in cloudy, rainy Portland I'm very much used to running in the rain and don't mind it at all. Beat running in the heat with blazing sun.

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  3. BOOM! That is awesome, well done! Running in the rain is the BEST.

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  4. my last garmin-less half marathon is still my current PR...always makes me wonder if i should run more races without it, but then i chicken out and strap it on anyway :)

    awesome job nailing your goal pace on feel alone! love it!

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  5. Great job lady especially without the Garmin! I have had a few good runs without it but I don't think I can give my Garmin up permanently.

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  6. Great race! That parking garage situation sounds horrible. Also, what a cool example you're setting for your kids by being "crazy, brave, and tough" and following through on a race you'd committed to, even in crummy conditions.

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  7. Great race! Having my garmin not find satellites before a race is my worst nightmare. I love that you were pacing off an 11 year old. Let's be real though--every single kid running races zips right past me...not a chance I could ever use one as a rabbit!

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  8. Congratulations! Nice race, I think the rain would have been great.

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  9. Nice pace! I love that you paced off a little girl:) I hate it when my Garmin doesn't lock on! Argh:/

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  10. You have to run up a parking garage??? What? LOL, that is awful. Great race!

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  11. Wow, you nailed it!! I can't believe you had to run up a parking garage, that's nuts!

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  12. GIRL!!! What a race!! wahooo! congrats :-) #likeaboss

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  13. Nice garmin free race-nice pace, too!!

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  14. That is a great time! I HATE when the Garmin won't find satellites. It happened to me before a marathon and I was so pissed. I agree there are advantages, but it still sucks.

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  15. Congratulations!! Wow. This makes me want to get in shape :)

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