Race Report

This was the second time that I'd run this race. Last year I ran it at 4 months pregnant and my husband and I decided to make it a family tradition. It's a beautiful point-to-point rails to trails course through the woods next to a creek and is fairly easy. Plus, my husband went to university here so it is a great excuse to visit his old haunts.

As you all know, I was a little nervous going into this race for several reasons and my bare minimum goal was to break 1:30 and my secret wish was to continue to pump out the 6:33/miles that I had done in my two 10 milers in April. I knew there was a chance that I could win the race as the winner last year ran it in 1:28, but I didn't want to get too cocky. The winner from last year had a small baby and I remember thinking that I hoped to be a bad @ss running mother like her some day!

I actually went to the front line so that I could start with the faster people. I usually start farther back because I never think that I am fast enough to run at the front, but I have been trying to change the way I think about myself. There were two women at the front that I recognized from the prior year, including the bad @ss running mom that won last year. I ran for about 5 minutes to warm up and did a couple of strides while waiting for the race to get started. As soon as the gun took off, I tried to keep myself from going out too fast, but did the first mile in 6:10. It felt pretty easy though and I was tempted to keep pumping them out. I actually ran the first 5K in 18:23, which was a PR for me....well, since I've never actually run a 5K, I think it was a PR for me. I decided to slow it down a bit and settled into 6:20/miles. I felt AWESOME even though I swore that the course was some sort of freakish M.C. Esher painting where I couldn't tell up from down. I kept expecting to slow down or feel tired, but it never happened.

Around mile 10 this bald dude passed me and jokingly said "don't let [bad @ss running mom] pass you." At this point, I decided that I wanted to win this race. I could feel her about 1/2 mile behind me and could hear the cheers for her in the distance. I kept plugging along and knew she was getting closer, but I wasn't sure by how much. I was running scared. When I came around the last turn and saw the finish, I knew the race was mine and cruised in to finish in at 1:23:34. The bad @ss mom came in 10 seconds behind me. I felt great...almost as if I could have plugged another 5 miles. I happened to overhear bad @ss mom say that she had just run Boston in 2:58.

OK--question for all you runners...what are you SUPPOSED to feel like after a race? Did I leave too much of myself out there? Should I be puking after races? I have NEVER puked after a race. Also...does this mean that I might be able to break a 3 hour marathon?? I NEVER thought that was possible!!

Now I don't know what to do with myself. I am going to sign up for a fall marathon, but don't know what interim races I should sign up for (other than the two I've already signed up for). How many miles should I be running during the week? How many weeks should I train for the marathon (16?)?