Saturday, September 26, 2009

Ragnar Relay - Leg 1



My first leg of the Ragnar Relay was a "no excuses" race from the start to the first exchange point. I had ridden in a very uncomfortable 15 passenger van for hours and hours the day prior, but I had one of the best nights of rest I've had in a long time! The weather wasn't as warm as the forecast. It was cloudy, and just below 60 at the start at 11:00 AM EDT. The leg was FLAT. The surface is the same surface on which I run about half my miles and almost all of my temp runs on. PERFECT!
And we're off!!! I took the lead and held it for about 0.75 miles. I probably started just a bit too fast, but I was very excited! I got passed at about 0.75 miles. I didn't think this guy was going to take me. I kept him in sight, and never let him get more than 10 seconds ahead. There were two others just behind me. At about the 1 mile mark, they made their move. Their move was stronger, and they were competing with each other. I do wish I had joined them. Who knows if I could have kept up or not, but I didn't try. One day, I'll get over that tentativeness I have early in races.

The two opened their lead over 3rd. I kept 3rd in sight. I had to decide. Do I want to go after the leaders or not. For whatever reason, I wasn't sure if I had it. I was afraid I would bonk. Why was I afraid? Oh well. There was no one in sight behind us. This was becoming a battle for first and a battle for 3rd.

At about the 3.5 mark, I decided to make my move on 3rd. I passed him strongly and didn't look back. OH NO!!! What is that? My shoe is untied?!?!?!? How does this happen? UGH!!! I decided that stopping to tie it was the best move because if I fell, I would lose even more time. Yep, he passed me as I was tying my shoe at the 4 mile mark or so.

I wasn't ready to give up that pass so easily. I chased him down and easily overtook him again. Now, the leaders were probably out of reach. I gave some effort, but their lead was nearly 30 seconds, and I just couldn't close the gap. I finished in around 40:30. That's PR pace for me, but of course this isn't a certified 10k. But it was about 6.22 miles, which is pretty close. I was very pleased with the time.

2 comments:

Lance said...

How to properly tie your running shoes

;) - I couldn't resist.

Eric said...

Haha!

You know, I had read that article. I was amazed at the difference it made to tie my shoes the way that article recommends. I've been tying them that way for a long time. My shoes NEVER come untied! I was really surprised that happened. I don't know why they came untied.