6.4 miles*
falls to lake to ford to falls
Get in Gear
45 degrees / drizzle
*I started my watch before the start line and we didn’t take the tangents so we were weaving around the course.
A good start to marathon training. Probably the slowest 10k I’ve ever run in a race (partly due to a port-a-potty stop 3 miles in), but Scott and I ran together, we felt strong, and we didn’t stop for any walk breaks. A big mental victory.
Near the beginning of the race, as faster runners were passing slower runners, I had 3 people in a row clip my elbow as they ran by. I asked Scott, do I run with my elbows sticking out? He said no, but I’m not so sure.
I can’t remember what Scott talked about, but I remember talking about pro runners running with wide elbows to claim space on the track, and the music they played — My Way — at the house with the bleachers on the marathon route. I talked about past versions of this race — we run it at least 5 times, probably more. I remember we were talking about how many races we’ve run total. I guessed at least 50. Scott looked it up on his spreadsheet: 65.
Just before mile 4, an older woman rang a cowbell and chanted this:
Get/ in/ Gear/ x (4/4
You/ are/ getting/ in/ gear/ x (6/4)
It was awesome in its awkward earnestness and prompted me to start chanting and talking about chanting with Scott. I did my classic triple berry chants for a few minutes. Scott said that doing this would drive him insane. I said that it helps keep me focused.
The last mile seemed to go on forever but I found some energy at the end to pick up the pace. It felt so fast, but it was really only about what I used to run as an average pace for an entire 10k. Wow, I have slowed down as I have gotten older.
10 Things
- the gentle tapping of rain on the port-a-potty roof
- little kids chanting, go! go! go!
- an enthusiastic woman behind me in the start corral responding to the announcers, how is everyone feeling? with a shriek
- the pavement was wet and felt slippery under my shoes
- several non-racing runners calling out to some runners, go mill city running!
- frequent big cracks in the asphalt
- crossing the ford bridge, hearing a white car continuously honking as they drove by us
- wild turkeys! in a yard — I didn’t see then, just heard another running point them out to someone and then another runner calling out to the turkeys, hey turkey! gobble gobble!
- feeling the rain falling mid-race and not caring
- nearing the finish line — not seeing it, but close enough to hear the crowd — hearing an air horn go off