How to run a good 4 mile race — do a 6 mile warmup beforehand
It’s Saturday, so of course I’d meet the gang to run. But I also had the Frozen Nose 4 Miler in mind. This morning I bundled up, packing spare shoes, socks and shirts. My thought was that I’d run one or two loops with the gang (6 or 12 miles), then slowly head over to the race. As it was, we only did one loop at highbanks and then most of my similarly-paced running buddies stopped. I used this as an excuse to go to Panera for a bagel and coffee, then do some leisurely shopping before heading for the noon race. Highbanks was muddy (thanks to my friends who figured the “caution: trail closed” note didn’t apply to us), but Doug lent me a pair of shorts for my later race.
By the time noon rolled around, it was gorgeous out – 47 and sunny. THere were only about 67 runners in the race, but I knew 4 of them. I started off and told myself not to pay attention to my watch. I figured I’d be happy with sub-32 (8min miles), but I was going to run by feel rather than by watch.
The course was a very pretty out-and-back on a bike path, and when I got to the turn-around I did glance at my watch: the distance was listed as 1.98 and my time was a 14:19! I didn’t let myself think too much about that and just kept plugging.
I felt really strong through the whole race, always passing others, never having others pass me. I’m still not too sure how I felt about the guy I passed with a mile to go who heard me catching up to him and said “go get em, big guy”. I sort giggled in, well, a girly way. Oh well.
Because I’d been careful not to look at my watch, I was pretty happy to see my finish time; 28:52. Wowza! And yes, I picked up some hardware (3rd female overall, after Nancy and a 14 year old). What a great day!
Stats:
1: 6:58
2: (included a bit of a hill) 7:27
3: 7:15
.99: 7:10 (7:16pace)
Overall pace: 7:14. I’m pretty darned excited: I typically don’t do well at short races, and I felt good and strong throughout this one. Considering I haven’t done any sort of speedwork at all, and this is right up there with my PR times (well, it is a PR…), I think this will be a good year 🙂
I also just got an email from the Vegas race organizers inviting me to print out my finisher’s certificate for that race. Hmmm.. interesting. However, it does mean I have an electronic copy.. sweet!
