Women Run the Cities (10 Mile) and get chased by dogs

Remember a few days ago when I said I loved fall, well I changed my mind! So far we've had two days in a row of overnight frost and cold mornings. I have forgotten all about this after the extreme heat all summer. It was such a shock to be preparing for a race when it was expected to be 34F at the start. After multiple times of rethinking my outfit, I finally decided on capris, wool socks, short sleeve shirt, arm warmers, jacket, mittens and headband. Was it a good choice? Yes and no. As per my usual cold weather runs my fingers were numb, ugh. My legs were fine but I overdid the top half.


I met up with a couple friends before the start and did my share of complaining about the weather, but this was short lived as we were off and running. My goal was for a negative split and ideally a sub 1:10 race. The short version: neither happened, instead things I had never planned on occurred..

The race began fine, I pushed through the early hills focusing on keeping a comfortable pace and not going out too fast. I hit Mile 5 at 35:30 so not too much time to make up, I could do this. About this time there was a turn around and much to my surprise I see a car coming straight towards me (on a closed course!), I guess people can't read the signs or see the road blocks. Luckily a volunteer jumped in the way and stopped it.

The next couple miles brought the hills I was dreading and some strange racing. My hamstring is great on flat ground or taking it easy up hills, but racing up hills tends to piss it off big time, so a hilly course like this was not doing good for me.

I kept pushing as much as I could and then it started Mile 6 a spectator's dog ran out on the course and started chasing me! Well that has never happened in a race. I was caught off guard and trying not to trip or step on the little dog which was quickly gathered up and removed by it's owner. But this was not the only dog instance. After a stop at Mile 7 to tie my shoe (that has never happened in a race either), what a waste of time it takes forever to tie with numb fingers, it happened again. Mile 8 and another dog chasing a ball ran right into me. Seriously, what is happening?!

Now with about 1.5 miles to go I am in with the 5K runners and try to push through the rest, I get cheers from other runners including a friend and my mom. 

Go Mom! Look what she can do at 62 years old.
At this point another runner catches to tell me she has been chasing me most of the race, this only makes me run harder. I know my goals are out of reach, somewhat out of my control) and I finish 1:13:19 with disappointment in the race I just had and my overall racing this year so far. I was so cold after the post-run sweat took over so we headed for coffee and left. I never even stopped to look at results so I was shocked when a friend posted on Facebook the I had gotten 2nd in my age group, what?! Sure enough even with everything I was second.
Now to focus on getting this hamstring good in 2 weeks and relaxing while I taper. After Twin Cities Marathon I need to refocus my training, cut back on running and work on strength, stability and flexibility. This will also begin my new schedule where I will add in much more swimming, biking and anything else. How do you deal with a bad race(s)? What are you favorite non-running cardio activities?

Comments

  1. My new favorite cardio activity is spinning! It is quite addictive - and you will never have to worry about the weather or dogs!

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    1. Very true about spinning! I love it too and hope to stick with my habit of a 5:30a spin class on Tuesdays and add another to my schedule.

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  2. I love kickboxing for non-running cardio.

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    Replies
    1. Haven't done kickboxing in years, might be time to try it out again.

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  3. Congrats, but how annoying! I love aqua-jogging and my best friend the elliptical (it's a love-hate relationship, but she got me through this training cycle, so I'll give her a plug!).

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    Replies
    1. Both are great and haven't done in awhile, for me I tend to associate both with an injury, maybe I need to just do them when healthy too to break the connection.

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  4. What an eventful race! That is an awesome time- I will be thrilled if I come away with a time like that on my ten miler. :) And congrats on 2nd place! Hope that hamstring bounces back quickly...

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    1. Thanks, it was filled with things I never imagined during a race!

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  5. Sorry about the bum race. :( I'm excited to read your Twin Cities marathon recap. I'm from Minnesota and my family still lives there. I want to run a marathon there next year and am trying to decide between Grandma's and that one. Good luck!

    Oh, and I love cycling and yoga for cross training. :)

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    Replies
    1. I vote for Twin Cities over Grandma's, I've done both and keep going back to TC but have vowed to never run Grandma's again. I keep saying I need to get into yoga, maybe that should be one of my winter goals.

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  6. Congratulations on placing second in your age group and congratulations to your mom on a great race as well!

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