RUN Week 1, Sunday 11/6 - Run (Race)

"I've been keeping up with crosstraining, but my recent "Social Tri" of

Eating, Drinking, and Dancing didn't prove to be helpful for this

particular event!" Plus, racing stats for the 2005 Almond Bowl Run ...

Context

City, State: Chico, CA

Location: Bidwell Lower Park

Course: One Mile --> Cedar Grove Bridge --> Freeway Bridge --> One Mile

Terrain: Flat. Paved

Distance and/or Time: 3 miles, 27:44.58 minutes

Speed or RPE: 6.49 mph, 8 (harder), 9:15 min./mile

3 Mile Race Results

Bib Number: 279

Age: 28

Overall Rank: 189/392

Division Rank (F 25-29): 4/15

Sunday, November 6, 2005

The Chico, CA 2005 Almond Bowl Run

• 27:44.58 Minutes - 0-2% grade; avg. 6.49 mph.


• 5 Minutes - Cooldown: 0% grade; 5 minutes at <5.0 mph;


• BPM: 160-177

Synopsis

• Upshot: It's the first race of the season!


• Downside: I drank too much only two nights ago (on Friday night). :(


• What I'm most proud of: I actually raced! Met and exceeded my goal of finishing 3 miles under 30 minutes! I got 4th in my age group! WOW!


• What I would do differently: Actually prepare and train for the race. ;)

Overall

I've been keeping up with crosstraining, but my recent "Social Tri" of Eating, Drinking, and Dancing didn't prove to be helpful for this particular event! Ha, ha! Ignoring that fact, I'm really pleased with myself. I made it under 30 minutes and had the chance to see many people that I know compete and finish. Brooke (the step instructor at CSC) was there and finished shortly after me. Steve Metzger (my favorite English professor at CSU, Chico) also came in just after me. He did particularly well as he shaved something like 3 or 4 minutes off his overall run time. It was so exciting!

That's not to say that it was easy. Sam and I were only going to run for the fun of it, and not race. We were going to take pictures and chat and just have an easy recoup day. And somehow, we decided right before the start (while we're in the very back of the pack) that we were actually going to put forth some effort and actually do some sort of racing. Hmmmmm ... Perhaps, we should've thought that one through a little better?

We started, and it was slow going nowhere. People were everywhere and always in the way! We must have weaved and wandered on and off road for the first 10 minutes vying for better positioning. Eventually, we got it and settled into a quick pace. There were times when I thought I might give up or pass out. Sam is such a dynamo. She's in ridiculously great running shape even if she's more hungover than I! She barely broke a sweat on the course. I was dying for parts of it. When my BPM jumped up to 177, I had to say, "Let's take it down a notch, and please start asking me questions so I don't hyperventilate." That did the trick, thank god! Still, seeing how I hardly ever run any faster than 5.5 mph, an average speed of 6.49 is remarkable. I have to admit, we were passing people all along the way. And we blew by a lot of folks in the last quarter mile. It was a bit of a rush! I've already signed up for more!