gargoylekitty | Elizabeth River Run 10k (Reply)

Finished second place for my age group(women, 20-24). Might eventually post something other than a race report, but not today, lol...

So, four races into the year and I haven't slept well the night before any of them, beginning to think this is how it works for me. That said, climbed out of bed around 5:30am, got myself all ready(except for the three trips I had to make back upstairs after forgetting my number, then my post race snack, then my shoes) and was out the door around 6:10am.

The drive wasn't bad, though they seemed to have started blocking off roads a little earlier than they'd announced leading me to get turned around, not making it to the parking garage I'd originally planned to park in, but that's fine as I feel the lot I ended up in might have been even closer and was a breeze to get out of when it came time to leave. All in all, I got there with at least an hour to spare giving me all the time I needed to settle in.

Around 7:30am, I took a warm-up run, just a short enough one that I was back in time for the 1 mile run ahead of us starting at 7:45am. Watched some of the finishers for that, cursing my ovaries half the time at how adorable all the little kids were, ex. one little girl kinda stopped short of the finish line and threw her hands up in the air and scowled like she was really annoyed by something someone at the finish was doing and it was just too precious, I can't even...

As soon as the mile runners were out of the way, everyone started lining up and by 8:05ish we were off. I didn't start right at the gate like I'd been doing, but I still let plenty of people pass me at the start, not wanting to get drawn into running too fast, especially with the temperature being around in the high 70s and feeling hotter due to the humidity. Was definitely summer.

The course was nice, we went up then looped back, then went straight(?) until we reached the base, then looped around the Naval Hospital, then came on back in. A nice chunk of it had us running along the river, thus the race's name, and was just pleasant. Since I still can't figure out a decent way to keep track of my time while running short of holding my iPod in my hand, I just ignored it and instead picked out different runners to pace myself by. So, a break down...

Miles 1-2: That first loop, wasn't bad at all, was still a little antsy about my knees possibly hurting though when they seemed to be doing fine I quickly stopped thinking about it and just had fun. Not sure my time was too good there, when I passed the start/finish around 1.75 miles in, it was at 13:00, yikes.

Mile 3: Started pushing a tiny bit, picking people out ahead of me to pull myself up alongside to keep pace with and then, when I could, pass. Was feeling pretty good.

Miles 4-5: Around the Naval Hospital, the vast majority of the people posted to make sure that no one left the trail, it being on base, where rather blank faced and seemed bored though these two women at the first bend cheered a bit, which was cool. Finally passed these guys I'd been behind most the race and spotted 'hat girl'(who I'd targeted as wanting to pass back in the second mile) again. Passed a lot of people at this point, best was passing not just the one girl but this other woman I'd been back and forth with for about a mile at the final bend. She saw me afterwards and was all 'great job' and whatnot.

Mile 6-finish: I was dying, lol. Sweating up a storm, though I did feel a little better since the last water station had someone holding a hose out to spray everyone as we ran past, but mostly just 'ugh...' and breathing hard.

When I saw the finish I had pretty much left behind those I'd been passing and the closest person ahead of me was this one shirtless dude who had passed me(mile 3), then I'd passed him(mile 4), and now he was ahead again(since mile 5). I decided to push and see if I could take him. Alas, totally darted forward too soon and lost whatever energy I had left fast, got ahead of him for a little bit but in the end he totally trounced me for my effort, lol. Was cool though as we ran into each other later and he was all 'thanks for that! It was fun!' and told me he was 53. I told him I'd get him next time and that I hope I'm still running when I reach his age.

At the finish there was pizza, water, and beer. Hit the bathrooms to, more or less, bathe in the sink, then got a half a beer to sip on as I cooled down. Once finished with that I headed back to the truck to grab my purse(with snack) and Powerade. Back at the finish, I had a full beer, there was a line by then, after confirming I wasn't some teen sneaking some, and found a cool spot in the shade to chill for a bit. Given my time I, again, didn't think I'd place. But, still, like to stick around for the awards/finish.

Before they got to awards there was a fun run for the littlest of the kids(kindergarten-aged, mostly, I think) and it was, no lie, the cutest thing ever. After they wrapped up with that, they posted the results, everyone leaning in to try and see them as he was still taping the pages up, and, as I said, I got second in my age group! I was a little shocked, a little disappointed my age group had done so poorly that my time made it, but was a good feeling end to what had been a pretty damn fun race, so I'll take it!