This Saturday I was covering a race for Get Out There magazine. Harry’s Spring Run-Off 8K and 5K is one of the earlier running events in the city. In 2013, the race has celebrated its 35th anniversary.
I showed up, dressed for… you know… a SPRING race. T-shirt + sleeves + capris. The remaining thousands of runners wore windbreakers, hats and gloves. Out of the dozens of races I’ve run, I can count the ones I dressed appropriately for on one hand. I warmed up by about 3rd kilometer marker.
Did I mention that I hate shorter distances? You get that barfy feeling almost instantly, and then the key is to maintain the pace for the full distance. I can never understand people who refer to a 5K race as an easy race, because it’s ONLY 5K. Ha!
I find that all of my races kind of feel like they are the same length. Let me explain. The shorter the distance, the faster you (can) run. The 8K on Saturday did not feel any shorter than the 30K few weeks ago. In fact, the kilometer markers were passing me waaaaay slower in the 8K. Time really IS relative.
I had an anonymous supporter about half way through the race, as someone screamed “Go, Solo!”. I quickly turned my head to catch a glimpse of blond hair, but not the face. Thank you, friend – you made my day.
Another happy moment – right at the bottom of last killer hill, a female runner beside me looked over, extended her hand for a low-five, and said “You’ve got this!”. Then she proceeded to smoke me, running up that hill. I’ve actually never had anyone encourage me like that before – it was great to be on the receiving end. Thank you, fellow runner – you made my day as well.
Revelations for the day…
– Turns out hills really throw off your pace. This was the hilliest road race I’ve ever done! As a result, my pace was actually similar to my last half marathon! My god, on one of the downhills, I seriously thought I was going to wipe out – that’s how fast I was flying.
– I officially hate my own road race pictures. You’d think that from all the races, I would have a couple decent ones. But no. I look either angry, miserable, or weird. What can I say – I look better in the mud or with some barb wire in the shot.
– A race is a great place to network. You never know when a fellow runner in a bright jacket may turn out to be a CFO for Harry Rosen. Watch my video race report below for an interview with Conrad Frejlich.
– A race is a great place to spend a Saturday morning. Where else can you get cheering, fresh air, coffee, pancakes and a massage? I mean, really.
Check out my video race report below.
On an unrelated, and very exciting note, my recent article on the sisterhood of obstacle racing made it on the cover of Get Out There Women’s Annual Issue. Read it here. Signing off, Solo