As you know, I started working with a coach in the beginning of October. Things are going really well with that and I am noticing a lot of progress in just the short time I have had with him. A day or two before the Thanksgiving day race my coach emailed me some race notes which included goal pace/finish time. I gotta admit that I am sometimes intimidated by his goals for me. I think this is due in part to how little confidence I have in myself to actually accomplish those goals/paces. But I'm having patience and trusting the training.
The day before race day a good friend/running buddy commented on my DM run asking if I wanted to run together on race day. Not wanting to jinx myself or give away my race plan/goal I messaged him to let him know what my coach wanted me to achieve on race day. I let him know that my coach wanted me to treat the race as my workout for the week since there was no other workout (speed work/Tempo, etc) planned for the week. And I let him know what my projected finish time was (44:20). No problem! D assured me that he was just treating the race as a training run for him and he'd be happy to pace me and push me to the goal.
So that was settled! I got my stuff laid out the night before the race. We planned to get up early to do my "breakfast" and get the kids going. We had to be there pretty early since I was volunteering at race day registration.
We got to the race in time for me to be dropped off at the registration tent. This was the craziest race day registration I have ever seen. It was just super busy! Most people picked up their packets the 2 opportunities they had prior to race day but for those that hadn't even registered the line was long to do so ON race day. I'm not sure I enjoyed that part of volunteering. I was stressing over getting out to do my warm up on time and whether I would be able to make a quick trip into the porta-potties or not (turned out not). I did manage to meet up with Michelle and Angela to get a quick little warm up in before finding Dave and discussing the plan.
This race also had a 2 mile walk and little gobbler run. Since the kids were with us and my Peanut boy saw other kids getting bibs and tees he decided HE wanted to run the Little Gobbler race too. We never carry cash but I had a $5 volunteer coupon from the morning so I handed it over and let the little guy run. He was happy to tell me he got 4th place! He was also super excited that we had matching turkey shirts.
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Peanut's first "road race"[/caption]After his race, my warm up and the shedding of extra layers, Dave and I lined up (closer to the start than normal for me!) and got ready to run. The gun went off way sooner than I expected but once my feet and legs began moving I realized I was ready to run. D was very encouraging the entire race and was telling me my overall pace every so often. Now, I knew from hearing what others said that this course was hilly. It is Knoxville after all! However, I tried hard not to let that get all in my head. I've done some decent training.
Mile one went by quickly. 8:32
Mile two was a bit slower as I had to shed my arm warmers and gloves and did as my coach instructed (grabbed Powerade). 9:07
We were still on pace for our projected finish time going into mile 3. D was still letting me know I was doing great and that our pace was on track. I think I may or may not have to cursed him and Mr. Turkey regarding the awesome hills in this race. haha But mile 3 went just as well. 8:34
Mile 4 would be the last large hill. 9:11
And Mile 5 Dave really pushed me to give it my all to finish strong. 8:13
Here we are going up that killer hill. You'll notice one of us seems rather happy about this hill. The other one of us ran at least half the way up past the photo op before deciding to save some energy at the top to push through the end of the race.
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We love hills... or um, one of us does![/caption]Some of our teammates chose not to run the race but were there for cheers and photos...
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Coming into the finish line![/caption]As we were coming into the finish area D kept telling me to push and sprint as hard as I could past him. At one point I said, "NO, I can't this is it. And who the heck moved the finish line!?" But I managed to push hard and give it my all. I was never happier to be done with a race and to see my finish time. 43:46 by my Garmin! I came in UNDER my goal time.
Going into the race I had a feeling that the goal of 44:20 was just too lofty and not something I could do. I let the fact that the race was hilly put that thought in my head. I do speed work on a mostly flat surface but add hills to that and well, I lost a bit of confidence in myself. I was still in shock throughout the race that I was on pace for finishing close to goal. I was in even more shock post race when I exceeded my goal.
My family (hubby and kids) were also there at the finish line to watch me come through. I knew they were proud of me regardless of my finish time. It means so much that they come out to support me. Not just on Thanksgiving, but every day, I am thankful for them and what they've shown me through this whole journey.
I am also thankful for friends who give of themselves even when not asked. I had it in my head that I'd be running this race solo and that alone I may not reach my goal but I was going to try. I was happy (still am) that a friend offered to pace me and help me reach my goal that day. The running community is a great place to be and I am thankful for the friends I've made along the way by being a part of it.
After hugs with my friend, thanking him for a great race, finding my family and loving them for coming, I wanted to find my coach to show him how my race went. I was happy that he was as stoked as I was about it. I did a little cool down then got some food and found my family again. We hung out a while afterwards because there was a raffle. Bring canned goods for the needy and get a ticket for a chance to win a great door prize! Much to my surprise I won something (yay beer!?). haha
We also stayed for awards since we really weren't in a huge hurry. I was surprised again to hear MY NAME CALLED!!!
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1st Place Athena!!! [/caption]My first division WIN! 1st place with a gun time of 43:56. I could not have been happier. I won that lovely race day medal and a pumpkin cheesecake. Very fitting for a Thanksgiving Day race!
Lots of cheers and celebrating with friends and family.
And one more post race pic with some of the ladies on my Socialites team.
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Socialites Ladies[/caption]Overall it was a great race and fabulous day.
I'm happy to look back on the progress I have made even since last year. 2 years ago this race was ran on a mostly flat out and back course and I finished in 54:51 for under 5 miles. This year I logged 5.01 miles with a time (Garmin) of 43:46. We are talking a good 10 minute plus PR for this race (by name, not course)! I'm most definitely not trying toot my own horn but rather say... that hard work pays off, big time. If you have a goal, go after it HARD! Work work work and KNOW that you can reach it!
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