Before my first race in nine months…
…and after!
It’s safe to say that my first post-injury race was a success…but that doesn’t mean it went perfect!
I woke up Saturday morning well before I needed to be at the park for the race. I decided to eat early and had one of my standard pre-race breakfasts.
This…
and these… 
Became this:
This meal provides a boatload of carbohydrates of different varieties, along with a little bit of protein and fat to add some balance, which is why it is one of my go-to pre-race/pre-long run meals.
My friend and college sorority sister, Raelee (in the pictures above with me) had come into town to run the race and spent the night at my house beforehand. Once we and our guys were ready, we headed down to the park.
Ike did an easy warm up mile with me (average pace of 9:15/mi). Even at 8:30 AM, the temperature was over 80 and the humidity was through the roof. Ike thought it was pretty hot out, too.
After a bathroom pit stop, it was pretty much race time.
The race start was pretty uneventful. Since I placed second in this race last year, I made sure to get in the front few rows at the start line. I went out with the lead pack but quickly started to fall behind. When I hit the mile mark, I heard the race official yell “6:10, 6:11, 6:12…” As I passed, I thought to myself “Wow, I ran the first mile in 6:12!”
My immediate second thought was verbally the same as the first, but with a tone of horror rather than happiness:
Wow, I ran the first mile in 6:12!
I knew that maintaining that pace was impossible. My PR average pace in a comparable race is 6:41, and today I had many other cards in the deck stacked against me. I’m 5 months post-fracture, only 2 months off of a forced 3-month layoff from running, not to mention that the temperature was over 80 with over 80% humidity. No way was I even going to be able to come close to maintaining that pace. I had made a rookie mistake–I went out too fast.
I backed way off my speed, slowing down to 7-minute miles and then even dropping slower than that for a little while. When I was a quarter mile from the finish line I sped up again. I ended up finishing the race in 21:45, with an average pace of 6:59/mile–only 89 seconds than my PR, and good enough to take first in my age group and 9th place overall out of over 300 women!
After the race, I helped myself to a bottle of water, half of a small cinnamon bun, and an apple. Two of my other sorority sisters, Lindsey and Lori, showed up to race as well, and another (Kristen) showed up to cheer us on. A post-race group photo…
I had planned on trying to squeeze in two easy miles after the race, but I was hot, tired and hungry. I decided that going out to my family’s camp would be a more fun option. We ate, drank, went out for a boat ride, and let our dog attack various forms of water…you know, the usual…
My dad was amused and decided to tease him a little…
All in all, my first day back to racing was a success. I feel like I’m ready to tackle marathon training and I’m happy with how far I have come in my injury recovery. It’s good to be back.
