Inside Out Sports Classic 10k 2008 Race Report

I ran the Inside Out Sports Classic 10k race yesterday. This was a “train thru” race – I did not follow a specific plan for this race, and I did not taper for it. As such, my expectations were not high, tho my hopes are always high – I was hoping for a 52 minute finish.

Results: I surprisingly placed top in my age group and 3rd overall masters female. WOW! My time was 54:29, pace of 8:46. The course was HILLY!

Here’s my full race report:

It was a chilly, windy, wet morning; and I was not looking forward to running in the cold. Weather.com reported 42 degrees, with wind chill of 37.

I got up at 6:25 am, ate a bowl of oatmeal with raisins and walnuts mixed in, and 3 fig newtons. I grabbed a cup of coffee. I had packed up my gear the night before, including layers for warmth. Since rain was in the forecast, I grabbed my cycling windbreaker at the last minute, and headed out the door.

I arrived at the race site a little after 7 am, picked up my packet, and jogged back to my car to stow the race goodie bag. Then out for a warm up jog. I was wearing gloves, tights, a short sleeve shirt, and a long sleeve shirt (both technical fabric), a fleece ear warmer, and a fleece pullover. After 5 minutes, I went back to my car to finalize my wardrobe. I decided to skip the gloves. I also removed my fleece pullover in favor of the lighter cycling jacket. Shoot…the zip-off sleeves were missing; I must have left those at home. So, I put the fleece pullover back on, with plans to peel that off and leave it at the start line. I knew from my warm-up jog that I wouldn’t need it while running.

I locked up the car and jogged over to the porta potty line. It was a long wait, as usual, so I took the opportunity to stretch and suck a Gu. I was done with that at 7:40 am – Race start time was 7:45. I jogged back to the race start, inserting a few strides along the way. I stepped into the pack about 1/3 of the way back, estimating I’d be in the top 30%. I was surprised by the small number of people… perhaps the weather kept some folks away.

The horn went off. Despite the small crowd, there were enough people crammed in front of me preventing a fast start. I darted around a few folks, and was in the clear to run free. I looked at my HR and it was 181. My heart rate always spikes at the start of running races (maybe they do also in triathlons, but I’ll never know, because I can’t look at my watch while swimming).

I was not expecting the HILLS that I encountered on this race course. The description did not say anything about hills! I tried to maintain a 165 HR the entire race course. I stayed on target with that.

I checked my time at each mile, hoping it would be a multiple of 8. It was close to that at the 2 mile marker, but then slipped away. That bothered me. I tried to lean forward and get gravity working for me, without much success. I tried to Relax. That didn’t work either. Truth is, running is hard work!

I spent most of the race thinking about Tyler Hansborough. No, I was not fantasizing about his good looks and hot body! I was thinking about how he delivered under tremendous pressure in Friday night’s UNC vs Louisville game. It was truly amazing to watch. After UNC regained their lead, the announcer made this comment: “His will is stronger than his skill, and frankly, Tyler Hansborough has plenty of skill”.

“My will is stronger than my skill” became the focus of my race.

At the 6 mile marker which was in the middle of an uphill, I sprinted as fast as I could. A woman who was with we the whole race also started sprinting. She passed me. After the hill leveled off, I really dug in deep and passed her back …just before the finish line. After I crossed the line, I forgot to hit my stop button on my watch – ARGH – I keep doing that! By the time I remembered, my watch said 55:19, and I had no sense of how much time had passed since crossing the line. I figured about 30 seconds.

I left as soon as I finished, feeling rather crappy about my pace on the way home. Even tho I had told myself not to have high expectations for this race, the truth was, I did. I don’t know why I put myself through this agony 🙁

Later in the evening, they posted the official race results (scroll down the page to see them). Holy crap – I placed third overall in masters females. The first race I place in, and I didn’t stick around for the award ceremonies.

In retrospect, I did well in this race, notwithstanding the third place spot. I put in a good solid effort. I pushed my heart rate to the right level. I was beat when I was done. And, my hamstrings are killing me today.

What I learned this race: 1) I am weak on hills; 2) crappy weather increases your odds of winning! 3) always stay for the presentation; 4) Know the course; 5) if a course if tougher than you expected, don’t be afraid to alter your goal; 6) don’t beat yourself up after a race – EVER! (thanks, jonathan from http://insidetriathlon.org for pointing some of those things out to me)

Typing #6 above reminded me of what my friend Norman once said

“…I have to remember triathlons are a means to an end, not an end in themselves.”

Official Race results:

FIRST THREE MASTER FEMALES OVERALL

Place Bib   Name                     Ag City               St Time    Pace  
===== ===== ======================== == ================= 
    1   816 JAMIE DILWEG             41 CHAPEL HILL        NC   48:01  7:44 
    2   689 LENA HOLLMANN          56 CARY                  NC   53:57  8:41 
    3   760 CAROL SCHEIBLE          45 CHAPEL HILL        NC   54:29  8:46 

My Heart rate data: 167 avg / 193 max.