"Race" week. I say "race" because I haven't done any serious training for it and because it's a 7-miler, I can't use it for Proof of Time for Dopey (which I suppose is moot since I'm using my CRANDIC marathon time), anyway...
Tuesday
4 miles @ 8:54/mile. I really need to start leaving myself some notes on these runs, because I don't remember much by the time Sunday rolls around, I don't have much of a recollection of the runs early in the week. I think this was the run that I saw a couple deer, so that's cool. Also, it was relatively cool this week, especially in the mornings, which was nice.
Wednesday
4 miles @ 8:47/mile. Not far off my marathon pace, which is nice. But, there's a big difference between 4 miles and 26.2. Either way, nice to feel a little fast (for me) again.
Friday
I had every intention of getting up and running, but my wife got called into a birth the night before and was at the hospital until 7 Friday morning and I couldn't run before work. I had plans for after work, so no Friday run.
Saturday
7 miles @ 8:23/mile. Race day. The Bix 7 is an annual 7-mile road race in Davenport, Iowa, about a hour from my house. I grew up going to this race since my mom, dad and a bunch of aunts and uncles ran it. Later on, some of my cousins got in on the action. My family literally "runs" this race,
my aunt is operations manager for the race.
Even though I did track and a variety of other sports in high school, the running bug never really bit me, so I was not among the members of my extended family who have participated in the Bix. That changed four years ago when my running efforts started picking up. That year, my first Bix paved the way for my first half, which prompted me to run my first marathon a year and a half after that.
Going into this year's Bix, I was not expecting big things. For the most part, I've felt slow and sluggish since my marathon at the end of April. I was anticipating a time of about 65 minutes.
The morning of the race certainly didn't start off well. I got up at 5:30, my stomach felt gross and I took some Pepto Bismol. I didn't pack the night before, so I scrambled to get out the door and didn't realize until I was on the interstate that I forgot my arm band and hydration belt. I got to Davenport with plenty of time to spare, but grabbing my packet involved walking a mile to packet pickup, a mile back to my car to drop off my free shirt and then a mile back to the starting line. I was drinking Powerade and water all morning, but my stomach was still feeling gross. I actually sent my wife a message predicting the race could be a disaster in the making.
Fortunately, the Pepto finally kicked in and my stomach settled a bit just as the pre-race ceremony was beginning. After "God Bless America," the national anthem and a fly over and the gun signaled the beginning of the race.
So, I love the Bix, but it's a perfect example of why Disney has POT requirements. There are a handful of corrals, but all of them except them start at the same time and only the "elite" corral requires any sort of POT (if that). People openly admit to BSing their predicted time so they get good corral placement. Combine that with the fact that the first half mile is a really steep hill that a lot of people walk (including people in the front corrals) and the first mile of this race is kind of a mess. Oh, also, the people who run the two-mile "Quick Bix" start with all the rest of us, further cluttering things.
As I'm working my way up the hill and practically making as much lateral movement as forward progress just to weave around walkers, I kept checking my pace on my phone (which I had in my hand since I forgot my arm band - super annoying). I started off at about a 12-minute mile pace. I kept weaving and looking for lanes to pass walkers or slow movers and things finally thinned out a bit. First mile came in at 9:57.
From there, I was hauling butt to make up for the first mile. The next four miles came in between 8:12 and 8:36. When I hit mile 6 and was approaching mile 7, I realized that if I really booked it - like, really, REALLY booked it - I could maybe come in at or under a mile, which is a nice little milestone for me and that race (never mind that my cousin finished it in less than 40).
Mile 6 came in at 8:14 and I knew it'd be close. But, I also knew that I'd be going back down the big hill that started the race and that gravity is my friend. I got to the hill, skipped a water station and kicked into as high of a gear as I could all the way down the hill. The finish line is actually another quarter mile past the starting line and is flat, so I had a tough time maintaining that speed during the final stretch, but I did my best to keep chugging across the line. I checked my phone when I finished: 59:30. Mission complete. Not bad for a "race" that I had more or less dismissed weeks ago.
Unfortunately, I came to find after the race that the body glide I had put on hours earlier had worn off before or during the run, leading to some chafing and ... unpleasantness. That was less than ideal. Still, I'm happy with the run.
Sunday
6 miles @ 8:58/mile. I wanted to take it nice and easy today. I was a little sore when I got up, particularly in my knees and lower back. I didn't take it quite as "easy" as I had planned, but I didn't push myself and the weather was pleasant, so all in all, it was a good run.
Miles This Week: 21.1
Year To Date: 808 (let the countdown to 1,000 and beyond begin!)