Well friends, this is my last Sunday before school starts up again. (Though I have tomorrow off still... gotta ease back into the school year with a short week.) I am excited for fall and football games and big pots of chili. Oh, and pumpkin spice lattes. The start of the school year isn't too bad.
The start of the school year also means the start of cross country season. Last week, there was an Open Cross Country Race in a town about 15 miles from here. So of course I participated. How could I not, it was only $2 to enter!
The purpose is mostly to give high school teams a chance to have a 'practice meet' before the official season starts. I think there were only 2 or 3 people in the race that were not high school athletes. Heh. But I didn't really care.
The race went well - but I forgot how hard cross country races really are! It'd been about 2 years since I'd raced on the grass. It' so much more difficult than road races or track 5km's.
I went out with the lead girls, not knowing quite what to expect. Well, they eventually took off ahead of me so I just stayed where I was. Nice & comfy in the third position and stayed there the rest of the race. Here's how the race broke down.
The start of the school year also means the start of cross country season. Last week, there was an Open Cross Country Race in a town about 15 miles from here. So of course I participated. How could I not, it was only $2 to enter!
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| Putting my Dirt Divas on... all photos courtesy of my awesome Business Man. |
The purpose is mostly to give high school teams a chance to have a 'practice meet' before the official season starts. I think there were only 2 or 3 people in the race that were not high school athletes. Heh. But I didn't really care.
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| At the start. |
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| Trying to run the tangents. Don't want to run any further than I have to. |
- Mile 1 - 6:26 (felt harder than this pace!)
- Mile 2 - 6:40 (getting tired...)
- Mile 3 - 7:03 (yeah... real tired)
- Last 0.1 - 0:43 (and we finished up a hill)
For a final finish time of 20:52.
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| The last 100 meters. Why I chose to wear a cotton t-shirt to an evening race in the middle of August, I do not know. I don't recommend it. |
So clearly I did not negative split this race. Heh. But I was third out of 105 girls, so I'll take it! It was a lot of fun. I'll be back next year for sure.
Oh, and my arches are so sore! I guess not wearing spikes for almost 2 years and then randomly whipping them out will do that to ya.
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And now for the Weekly Rundown for my Columbus Half-Marathon training. (Just 8 weeks away!)
Last week's goals were to run 40-45 miles, a 5-mile tempo and a 10-12 mile long run. I achieved all but the long run, but I ran 9.5! Close enough, right? ;-)
Weekly Rundown (August 15-21, 2011)
Goals: 40-45 miles, 5-mile tempo, 10-12 mile long run
Monday: 6 miles easy (52:30; 8:45 avg)
Tuesday: 5-mile tempo (33:44; 6:45 avg); 7.7 miles total with warm-up & cool-down
Wednesday: 5.9 miles (46:53; 7:56 avg)
Thursday: 5km Cross Country Race (20:52; 6:42 avg); 6.4 miles total with warm-up & cool-down
Friday: 6.6 miles easy (51:50; 7:51 avg)
Saturday: Off
Sunday: 9.5 miles LR (75:00; 7:54 avg)
Total: 42.1 miles
Next week's goals:
- 40-45 miles total
- 11-12 mile long run
- 5-mile tempo or 5x1-mile repeats
- Adjust to actually working everyday again... ahhhh!
Have a great week everyone!
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