I have mixed feelings about the Branford road race. I love the town of Branford and love to run the race with my brother, but most years I tend to struggle with it. I think it's because it's one of the first races in the season that is over 3.1 miles that is run in hot and muggy conditions. I thought that I would have an easy time of it this year since it wasn't too hot and there was some rain in the forecast. However, it was more muggy than I expected and my hamstrings were still really tight from a Thursday night weight lifting class. You would think I would have recovered by Sunday morning, but no such luck. It didn't help that my hamstrings tightened up right at the beginning of class which resulted in me lifting weights for almost an hour with my muscles all tensed up.
I ran the first mile of the race pretty fast with Cindy and Pete by my side. Shortly after that the hamstring tightened up and I had to back off. Cindy went off ahead and Pete stuck with me. I'm not quite sure why he subjects himself to my whining every year, but he always does. I took the hill in the beginning of mile 3 pretty well, but couldn't maintain that intensity. I also started to get hot spots on the pads of my feet at the base of my toes, which didn't help matters. My muscles loosened up a little and I managed to pick up the pace in the last half mile. Usually Pete lets me beat him, but his time I told him to take off so I could chase him in. He took off and flew around the corner to the finish. This was a great motivation for me to charge after him. Granted, I had no chance of getting anywhere close to catching him, but it did make me finish very strong.
I finished 478 out of 1,593 and 14th out of 133 in my division.
Congrats to Andrea who placed 2nd in her divison and to Kristen on her PR.
My GPS watch splits:
Mile One: 7:35
Mile Two: 8:13
Mile Three: 8:31
Mile Four: 8:43
Mile Five: 8:08
.03 of a mile: :10
Total: 41:20
5:03 Miles at a 8:14 pace
My regular watch:
Mile One: 7:42
Mile Two: 8:15
Mile Three: 8:33
Mile Four: 8:45
Mile Five: 8:07
Total: 41:21
In 2005 my pace was 8:03, then 8:32 in 2006, 9:04 in 2007 and 8:47 in 2008. At least I'm now going back in the right direction.
The Fairfield half is coming up next Sunday and I am totally dreading that one. Every year I swear that I don't ever want to run it again, but I always end up coming back for more. I guess I must either like to torture myself or just strive on the challenge. I also have the Norwalk Summer Series 5 miler to run the day before that and the forecast is for the temperatures to be in the 80s both days! Pete is planning to run some of Fairfield with me again this year, but might go off ahead after a few miles. Maybe I can hold off on my whining until after he has gone ahead. ;o) I hope that some of my other friends will tell him that I don't always whine when I run - only on hot days and coming off injuries.
Brian, AKA Unknown Sweetheart
Emma, Sue, Alice and I
Cindy and I
Cindy and George
Me and George
Alice, Pete, Sue and Emma
Alice, Pete, Me, Sue and Emma
I ran the first mile of the race pretty fast with Cindy and Pete by my side. Shortly after that the hamstring tightened up and I had to back off. Cindy went off ahead and Pete stuck with me. I'm not quite sure why he subjects himself to my whining every year, but he always does. I took the hill in the beginning of mile 3 pretty well, but couldn't maintain that intensity. I also started to get hot spots on the pads of my feet at the base of my toes, which didn't help matters. My muscles loosened up a little and I managed to pick up the pace in the last half mile. Usually Pete lets me beat him, but his time I told him to take off so I could chase him in. He took off and flew around the corner to the finish. This was a great motivation for me to charge after him. Granted, I had no chance of getting anywhere close to catching him, but it did make me finish very strong.
I finished 478 out of 1,593 and 14th out of 133 in my division.
Congrats to Andrea who placed 2nd in her divison and to Kristen on her PR.
My GPS watch splits:
Mile One: 7:35
Mile Two: 8:13
Mile Three: 8:31
Mile Four: 8:43
Mile Five: 8:08
.03 of a mile: :10
Total: 41:20
5:03 Miles at a 8:14 pace
My regular watch:
Mile One: 7:42
Mile Two: 8:15
Mile Three: 8:33
Mile Four: 8:45
Mile Five: 8:07
Total: 41:21
In 2005 my pace was 8:03, then 8:32 in 2006, 9:04 in 2007 and 8:47 in 2008. At least I'm now going back in the right direction.
The Fairfield half is coming up next Sunday and I am totally dreading that one. Every year I swear that I don't ever want to run it again, but I always end up coming back for more. I guess I must either like to torture myself or just strive on the challenge. I also have the Norwalk Summer Series 5 miler to run the day before that and the forecast is for the temperatures to be in the 80s both days! Pete is planning to run some of Fairfield with me again this year, but might go off ahead after a few miles. Maybe I can hold off on my whining until after he has gone ahead. ;o) I hope that some of my other friends will tell him that I don't always whine when I run - only on hot days and coming off injuries.
Brian, AKA Unknown Sweetheart
Emmy, Sue, Alice and Pete
Emma, Sue, Alice and I
Cindy and I
Cindy and George
Me and George
Alice, Pete, Sue and Emma
Alice, Pete, Me, Sue and Emma
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