I went into this race with no goals... had no idea how tired I'd be (we had just flown in less than 24 hours before the race), no idea about the course, no idea how many others would be running. I'd only registered for it about a week and a half before, even though I'd pretty much decided I would run it once we figured out our travel plans would coincide.
Our race morning plans didn't quite go according to schedule since D woke up at 3:50 a.m. (is that still considered jet lag?) so he and Scott ended up coming with me to the race instead of doing their own thing for the morning. I was happy for the company to the start line and again at the finish line. Plus we got some delicious brunch afterwards. But I'm getting ahead of myself...
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| Beer socks. Appropriate for the trip as a whole. |
The race started and ended at Gas Works Park which is a really cool abandoned natural gas refining facility from the 1920s.
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| Sunrise over Gas Works. |
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| Gas Works + City Skyline behind |
We'd arrived very early, not knowing what the crowd would be like. Turns out I had nothing to worry about and it was a pretty small field (relatively) of about 400-500 runners total.
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| Family photo! |
Around 7:45 they started calling people towards the start line, and said "if you plan to run faster than a 1:45, get right up front". I didn't plan to do that, but was pretty certain I'd be sub-1:50... so I headed close but not AT the start line.
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| I've never lined up this close to the start line. |
A few encouraging words, a countdown from 10, and we were off.
I was easily in the front pack of ~20 or so runners, and decided to see how well I could hold that position. The weather was cool compared to what I'm used to in the summer heat of the south... it was chilly mid-50s when we got to the start. It definitely warmed as we ran and were in the sun for several stretches. The course circled Lake Union on a bike/pedestrian path for most of the route, so at least it was flat except for a few bridges and small hills.
I passed a motivational sign around mile 3 that said, "How badly do you want it?"
It was at that point that I decided I did not, in fact, want to race hard. I was just going to run at a consistent effort and see where I landed. I did my best to just enjoy the sights as I ran and take in the essence of Seattle.
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| Still smiling? |
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| Finish Face |
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| Not too shabby for effort level = "meh" |
Definitely slowed down on the back half as I got more tired (perhaps being awake since 4am wasn't awesome for performance?). I have to say, that despite a good result and a less-than-full effort, I learned something from this race. I learned that every race has the chance to humble you. No, I didn't have any goals or anything I was trying to accomplish with this event, but it taught me to not approach something in a too-light-hearted manner. It's still 13.1 miles. It's not easy, no matter how casually you approach it. By the end, I was tired and ready to be finished.
Anyway, hopefully that long run holds me for a while because it'll be 2 weeks before I get another one. 0_0
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