I was registered for this race last year and couldn't do it for one reason
or another so deferred my entry to 2013. I of course completely forgot I was
even registered for this race but thought it would be a good excuse to visit my
good friend Jill and just run it for fun. I had just about 4 weeks to get ready
for 10 miles so I wouldn't completely die and be out of breath. I did an 8
miler, a 9 miler, back down to 8 miles, then it was race weekend. Quickest
training cycle and tapper wrapped up into one, right?
When I woke up on race morning I was less than trilled to run, I mean this
was for fun. Running in pouring rain with 30mph winds at about 40 degrees is not
my idea of fun. Regardless we all got ready anyhow, got into the car and made
our way to the VA Beach Convention center.
What's nice about this race is you can wait inside the building before the
race start and the finish line and after party are actually inside! We waited as
long as possible inside and headed to the start line/bathrooms about 10 minutes
before race start. Both the 5k and 10 miler have the same start line so it was a
crowded. I made my into the coral and just started a few feet back even though I
wasn't planning on being super speedy.
Before I knew it I was crossing the timing mat and the race started. I had
forgot my garmin at home, which wasn't too big of a deal and just had on my
timex. Although it's been awhile since I have ran a race without my garmin and I
was scared I would go out way to fast as I always seem too. As we crossed back
over by the convention center I was half tempted to just do the 5k. It had just
started raining again and it pretty much sucked. I of course kept running and
saw the first mile marker of the day, mile 3. I hit this around 23 minutes. The
pace felt ok so I just went with it. I was feeling fine but was dreading running
back on the boardwalk. Straight on head wind!
The next mile marker that I saw
was mile 6. I hit this at about 46 minutes. However I was feeling like crap at
this point. Miles 5-8 are ran on the boardwalk and the wind was kicking my ass.
Everyone I was running around just started passing me. I couldn't keep up at
all. I tried, I really did. I wanted to draft. The wind was awful, plus I was cold
and wet. I thought I might cry. Those 3 miles seemed to take forever plus I saw no other mile marker. If I had
to guess I was running an 8 something. Finally the end came. Thank god! As soon
as got off the board walk it felt about 10 degrees warmer. I ran the next miles
with a girl who said she was running around a 7:20 pace. I couldn't hold onto her the last half mile and saw her speed off.
I will say I was so happy when I was rounding the corner to run into the
convention center and the finish line! I really wanted to be out of the cold!
Official Finish Time - 1:16:33 (7:40 pace)
which was good for 4th in my AG.
Overall
I was happy with my overall time as I did zero speed work and really didn't
put much work into this race at all. So yeah I wasn't expecting much. However I
do wish I want just a pinch faster so I could have gotten 3rd. I'm sick of
getting 4th. Anyhow, it was fun hanging out afterwards and having a beer
:)
