The wedding was fantastic! Drinks, hors d'oeuvres, ceremony, dinner, drinks, dancing--as mother of the bride, Marje celebrated without reservation. So did I. We caught the 11:00 p.m. shuttle back to the hotel. Marje was feeling a little nauseous, and I definitely had a pretty good buzz going. I don't drink much anymore, so I was feeling it. Around 7:15 the next morning, I sent Marje a text asking if she was awake. She was and ready to go. I headed downstairs to the breakfast bar for my usual oatmeal and coffee. We met in the lobby and headed out. On the way, I remembered that the race website asked for a donation of non-perishable food items, so we stopped at a Price Chopper to pick up a few things.
The race start was at Bozenkill Park in Altamont. It was a beautiful, sunny morning, a touch cool but warming up fast. Good thing, because I had on a tank and running shorts, but neglected to pack even a sweatshirt. We picked up our race packets, did our pre-race stuff, and headed to the start. It was a pretty large event, with a few hundred people. The race started a little bit after the 9:00 start time. We positioned ourselves near the back. Before the race, I asked Marje what her target finish time was. Her PR was just over 37 minutes, so she was aiming for 37 even. I had my Garmin 910 on, which allows me to track current and average pace, distance, and time, all in one screen. I did some quick math and figured we'd need to average around 11:45 minute miles to achieve that. The course was a counter-clockwise loop from the park. The first mile and a quarter was a gradual gain in elevation of about 75 feet. We averaged 11:59 for that first mile. I hadn't looked at the map, so I wasn't sure of the course, but I thought if we were gaining at the start, then we should have a downhill for the second half. And we did. As we neared the end of the climbing, we approached a corner, and Marje remarked that she may need to walk, depending on the terrain. A moment later, I had a view around the corner, and it was down! We continued to run, and clocked the second mile in 11:48. I was keeping a close eye on my watch and was just talking, giving Marje some racing tips, talking about mental tricks that I use. As we neared the three mile mark, I had a good idea that Marje was headed for a PR, but I didn't tell her, I just kept looking at my watch and tried to push the pace a bit. We hit the three mile mark at the entrance to the park, and had run that mile in 11:28. We had 1:45 to run the last tenth of a mile, uphill, to the finish line. I asked Marje if she felt like she could sprint a little. She said, "I know I'm not going to PR," and I replied, "We'll see." I picked up the pace. Marje said she was giving it all she had. We could see the finish line, and I said, "You've got this, you're almost there!" I dropped behind her, and just yelled, "Go, go, go!" I stopped my watch as Marje crossed just in front of me, 36:47! We were both so excited! Our first race together, and the best outcome we could've hoped for. The whole experience was fantastic. They had cool t-shirts (one I will actually wear), water, iced tea, and cookies, lots of free samples, and a nice bag from a local sports medicine clinic. I would absolutely do this race again. And I believe this is just the first of many races Marje and I will run together.
No comments:
Post a Comment