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Saturday, March 24, 2012

Raceday Pace Work

Distance: 6.6 mi.

Warmup: 2.1 mi.
Race: 3.13 mi.
Cooldown: 1.4 mi.

My parents' church, Central Church of God, put on a race today, the proceeds of which went towards prevention of human trafficking. A fantastic cause and an opportunity to win were easy draws here. However, I had been signed up for over a month, and my plans have changed due to how poorly I've felt on recent runs. I thought about making it a game-time decision; however, things have taken a turn for the better and instead of pushing my luck I decided I wanted to keep it that way. Adrienne signed up this week, and I told her that if I started talking about racing hard, her job was to talk me out of it.

I found myself grabbing my hamstring again on our warmup, so there would be no temptation to run hard. I knew Adrienne was due for a PR at this distance, so I told her I would just run a certain pace and we would all see what happens. Christi Carter and Brian Baum would be racing with us, as well.

After surveying the competition at the starting line, I went ahead and congratulated Brian on winning the race and gave my regrets for not being willing to push him. Adrienne, Christi, and I got out of the gates a little quick in anticipation of the hilly third mile, and made our way around some eager youngsters and a lead patrol officer that could politely be described as an effing moron. This guy wasn't even moving when we came out of the church parking lot, having to be coaxed by a volunteer and forcing us to go around him on the sidewalk. He eventually had to speed around the cones in the outside lane to get ahead of the pack, but according to Brian he kept stopping to talk to the other officers and never really got far enough ahead.

I stayed between Christi and Adrienne down Providence as we turned into some neighborhoods. The latter's breathing began to get heavy but we were doing great and didn't mind letting the former pull away. We all caught some encouragement from Jamaar as we turned on Randolph and braced ourselves for the big hill. I looked at my watch at the top and realized that not only was this course legit, but Adrienne easily had her PR. Christi took first and AA second on the women's side and both were happy to get the 5k season started off with extremely positive efforts.

As for me, I was a bit remorseful that I hadn't gone for the W but felt it was the right decision. My foot didn't give me any trouble during the race and felt a lot less stiff afterward than it has in awhile. There will be plenty of other opportunities for fun later in the year. Also, despite the pace car troubles this race was very well-done for a new event. I plan to be back next year.

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