McConnell's Endurance Events Race Recap

Good Morning! I am trucking along in this SUPER busy week; I can't wait for it to be over so I can breathe, relax, and resume reading up on all of your blogs!

Before I get into the race recap, thank you so much for the well wishes on my knee. I tend to be extremely paranoid, borderline neurotic, armageddon is coming tomorrow! about injuries, so reading your words was very encouraging. I went to the Dr. this morning, and the winner is Ron, who correctly guessed my diagnosis! You are a PT extroadinaire! (ok I know, this isn't a contest, lol).

I don't have a stress fracture!

(Insert GIGANTOR sigh of relief here. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh)

But I do have Bursa tendonitis. So that means No Running This Week. Maybe next week too. Yikes! Maui Half Marathon is only 4.5 weeks away! But I'd rather rest it now and be safe and well for Maui, instead of overtrained and injured. This little running hiatus is gonna be tough, but better now than later.
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Ok on to the race.
The race was a part of a series of events; there was a 5K run, a 5K walk, a biathlon, a 10K, a mile swim, and a kid's mile run. I did the 10K, and James did the Biathlon, which was the 10K followed by a mile swim.

The event was a rather small, very local affair, and it seemed like everyone knew each other there. I loved the small, non-intimidating atmosphere. And best of all, WE WERE NOT LATE!!!! That made me a very happy camper, and saved me from having to chew James' head off.

The run started at 9:30. The weather was very overcast and chilly. It was so foggy that it was practically raining. Whatever. Better to have a cool race than a hot one. James and I got there 45 minutes early, and ran a mile to warm up, and stretched. The gun went off, and we made a run for it; a straight and flat out and back.

Ahhh the adrenaline rush of a race! It's something that can never be recreated. The thunder of footsteps, the heavy breathing all around, the pounding heart, and the anticipation of the road ahead. I looked at Garmy, and it said 6:54. Woah Nelly slow down. For the first mile, I ran right behind a man who was running a straight 7 min mile. Who knew I could run that fast? I kind of surprised myself. However, that was too fast for me to maintain, so I then ran behind a lady who was running 7:30 miles. I stuck with her till mile 2. Even that was a little too fast for me to sustain. But I couldn't believe I had run two whole miles in less than 8 minutes each!

This was the first race with Garmy, and I absolutely CANNOT imagine how I used to race without this beauty. I kept checking my pace to make sure I stayed below a 8:20 pace. Unlike the Semana Nautica race, I kept getting passed, but I tried not to let it bother me. At around mile 2.5, I saw a black kitty, and that totally lifted my mood. In Japan, black cats are auspicious, and plus, I love cats. The road was flat and straight, which helped tremendously in keeping a steady pace. Pretty soon, I saw the super fast runners coming back from the turn around point. Man, they were hauling some maJAH a$$! I made sure to cheer the first 5 or so runners on. It was so inspiring to watch their form. I want to run like that!

At mile 3.1, I unwittinly blurted out "$uck yeah!". I was so embarrassed that's what came out of my mouth, and quickly followed by "oops, excuse my language!" haha. I WAS happy to turn around though. I was running faster than I ever have!

I tried hard for the next half to maintain my pace. I could not do negative splits, but I was extremely satisfied with my performance. I really wasn't thinking much at all, other than, 2.2 more miles to go. 2.15 more miles to go. 2.1 more miles to go. I was literally counting down every hundreths of a mile till the finish.

Around mile 5.6, I looked at my watch, and realized if I really pushed it, I could reach my goal time. I took a deep breath and just all out went for it for the last half mile. I got kind of queasy, but I was able to finish all 6.28 miles (woah, longer than a 10k!) at

49 minutes and 9 seconds!
7:55 average pace

My goal was to shave even 10 seconds off my previous time, but I had a secret desire to beat 50 minutes. And I did it! woo! A new PR! And good enough for a third place AG! (A secret goal is a "hopeful" goal that I won't be sad if I don't accomplish, but think it would be rad if I could. Does anyone else ever have secret goals?)

And congrats to James who rocked his first 10k at 44:44! He then moved onto the swim portion of the biathlon (this race is kind of unique in that it is a run THEN swim). There were only about 10-15 biathletes, so it was a very low key, very mellow race. James even swam it in his surfing wetsuit! We used a very helpful blog tip and sprayed the wet suit with Pam to make it easier to get into. He said it was very helpful!

First biathlon successfully finished

For getting third, I got to make and decorate my own cool visor, AND I got a coupon for free ice cream! LOL, at an event where there is free ice cream, the winner gets even MORE free ice cream!

For some reason, my eyes aren't open in any of my race photos. Apparently, I run with my eyes closed. How on earth is this possible?

Running strong

I really like this candid shot from the starting line. We both look nervous.
Race photos from SantaBarbaraPix.com

We both had A LOT of fun at this event, and we made sure to stuff our faces with free ice cream. Ok ok I lie. I made sure I stuffed myself with ice cream. (BTW, lots of COLD dairy right after a hard race = NOT a good idea) oh well lesson learned, haha.
This race also raised my confidence for the half marathon next month. I don't know how my knee issue is going to affect my racing/training, but I feel pretty good about it. I just need to remind myself to REST MY KNEE, and to NOT OVERTRAIN it.
I WILL be able to do this!

Happy Tuesday!