The Short:
My goals for this race were to be in the top 5 overall (female) and to win masters, and I accomplished that with 2nd overall female and 1st masters! I also hoped I'd be able to run faster than I did at the Firecracker 5000, but with the heat index over 90* and how terrible I felt on race morning, I didn't worry about that too much, which was good since I did not accomplish it. I paced very evenly (both of my laps of the 1.55 mile course were 10:10!), moved up in the field throughout the race, and got the most out of myself that I could on the day. Much like last year, I had mixed feelings about this race because I was thrilled with my place but appalled with my time. Perhaps next year I'll remember that there is very little chance of running fast in August races in Oklahoma, at least for me! I am thinking also for others, because I have never won so much for a 20 minute 5k...
 |
| Winnings |
The Long:
This race was a "probably" on my schedule for a couple of months, but just like last year I registered 2 days before the race. Also like last year, I didn't feel the best during the week leading up to the event, including running a sub-par workout. And also like last year, my friend Liz was kind enough to host me at her house and I knew I'd have a fun trip. My running buddy Paul decided to run the race too so we rode down together. We drove down Friday afternoon and had a great dinner at the Mother Road Market food hall.
I didn't look at the weather in advance and didn't plan to look at it on race morning because I knew there was zero chance of it being good, but I woke up to a plethora of group messages from my running buddies about cancelling or delaying their Springfield group run due to thunderstorms. Soon after I started hearing thunder, so I pulled up my weather app to see what was happening with the storms, and learned that it was 83* with a dew point of 76*, making it a heat index of 89* already at 5:30 a.m. The race started at 7:30 a.m. so I figured it would only get worse. Stepping outside was definitely like stepping into a sauna!
There were storms around and patchy rain, but it looked like the race was going to start as planned. Liz drove me to the race and Paul walked there from his nearby hotel. We grabbed our race packets and took off on a warm up. I'd woke up feeling tired and weak, even having thoughts like, "I really wouldn't mind if they cancel this race", but hoped that once I got going I'd feel better. I did not! The warm up was sluggish and my uptempo running towards the end of it felt terrible. I decided I would "just" try to win masters. The woman who was second masters last year was there, and Liz pointed her out as my likely competition.
The race was significantly smaller than last year, likely in part due to the stormy weather. As we started I eased out just behind the other masters woman. Two other women went out faster together. A half mile into the race I was in 4th overall but felt pretty good about passing for 3rd. I kind of figured that was where I'd end up staying, since the top two had such a big early lead and generally adults don't die too hard in 5ks.
Just before the first 180* turn I passed the masters woman, moving me into 3rd overall female and 1st masters. The course does the same out and back course twice, so the first turn around was 1/4 through the race. I felt pretty awful but also thought I'd gone out conservatively, so felt like I could maintain even though I'd probably be grimacing through it. At no point did this race feel smooth! I just felt very flat and sluggish.
As we neared the second turn around (halfway), I noticed that the second female had fallen off the leader and I saw a man passing her. I decided I was going to do all I could to reel her in too. The heat can definitely be a reason for talented runners to run major positive splits, and I thought that might be what was happening there. As I passed the halfway point someone was calling out times and I came through in 10:10. At that point I also thought, "Ugh, I'm probably going to be over 20:00" but focused on the goal of moving up a place.
On the second tour of the course, I gradually gained on the second place woman, catching her not far before the final hair pin turn. I wanted to pass with authority when I went, so I sat behind her until we got around the turn, then coming off the turn I put in a surge and passed. I didn't want to give her a chance to hang onto me, and I also didn't want to leave it to too close to the end because she was much younger than me and would likely have more speed (post-race I saw she was 23).
I never looked back but I couldn't feel her close so I didn't think she'd tried to hang. The third turn where I passed was 3/4 through the race, so I told myself "1200 m" after I passed, and then counted down in my head at random points that were very rough approximations "Okay, 800 m left. Now 600 m.", etc. I kept telling myself to push because she could come back at any time. I made it through the finish line with all of the grit I had, and the announcer called me out at the second female finisher. I was thankful for the placing and thankful it was over! I looked back to find out that I hadn't needed to push as much as I did.
Post-race, Liz joined Paul and I for a 5 mile cool down, which ended up having a significant stop in the middle for awards, which also involved a torrential downpour. I ended up getting 3 certificates: 2nd overall female, 1st masters female, and 1st in age group 40-44. I received cash prizes for my overall and masters placings, and a nice pair of socks and a pint glass for the age group win, so I effectively got to triple dip at this one!
I'm thankful I ran this even though I didn't have "it" to run any better than I did. The first female was 48 seconds ahead of me, so even if I'd had a better day for where I'm at right now, it wouldn't have changed my placing (and based on her history, seeing her run 19:32 made me feel better about my 20:20!). After getting cleaned up post-race we went to a great brunch restaurant and did some browsing at a fun little thrift store.
The day after the race I ran 21.6 miles that didn't particularly feel great but did feel very do-able at an easy pace. Then I took two naps and woke up with a sore throat, so maybe that was part of my problem. Regardless, I'll be back next year, and note to self: this race should be done for place and fun, not for time.
My Strava activity is here, and [wonky] online results are here!
