We had a great time today! The course was definitely tough, but we made it through. My Garmin was a little off (it counted 6.4 miles), but I’ll just use its paces for the recap, and report on the “official results” at the end.
Firstly, the packet pickup for this event was not very well organized. We stood in line for 30 minutes to look up our bib number. Then waited in another line (10K or 8K lines) for our bibs. As we picked up our bibs, they attached our timing chips. If we had ordered a shirt, we would have had to wait in another line. Oy! I can think of several things they could have done to make it more efficient, but oh well!
We made it to the starting area this morning without difficulty, about an hour before the start. We got our ID’s checked, and wrist bands applied. Then we waited. They had the kids race right before the start of the 10K, which had us all waiting on the wrong side of the starting area. We finally made it to the starting chute, but had to keep moving to the end on the wrong side of a barricade. We tried to work our way to the middle of the pack, but the gun went off before we’d even gotten past the barricade.
Mile 1: 9:16
The start was a little hectic, but we’ve seen worse. There were of course people to dodge (my mom said there were walkers lined up at the front…) but nothing like the Shamrock Run. This whole mile seemed to be a gradual uphill climb toward the bridge, but didn’t seem too bad. At this point, I thought we were going too fast, and tried to slow us down (to no avail).
Mile 2: 8:43
Yeah, we were going much faster than I had anticipated. This part had a nice long downhill section as we made our way to the freeway on ramp (to exit the bridge).
Miles 3/4/5: 8:44/8:45/8:41
After we exited the 405, we continued onto flat roads with a few turns. My legs and lungs were feeling really good and strong, until we started on Mile 5. Even then, I was feeling good, so we just kept pushing through.
Mile 6: 8:55
I had been dreading this part (the Broadway Bridge) ever since I first read about it. Who puts a hill at the end of a race!? :P I definitely struggled a bit, but just kept running and pushed through it. We got to the top and headed out onto the final stretch. I was feeling strong, so I started to push the pace a bit.
Mile 6-6.4: 7:54 avg pace
And then it came; a stupid little itty bitty hill, right before the end. My legs felt like lead, but I made it up, and we were definitely almost there. Who knows how accurate any of these paces are, but I know I kicked it into gear on the final stretch.
Final Garmin time: 56:16 (8:47 avg pace for 6.4 miles)
Official time: 56:07 (9:02 avg pace for 6.2 miles)
I think the extra 0.2 miles may have come from when we were on the lower part of the Fremont Bridge, which is why it seemed like we were going so fast (especially on the uphill section), but our pace was still much faster than we had anticipated! Yay us! :)
At the end of the race, we kept our eyes peeled for Jen while enjoying our brews. We were about to give up hope when I spotted Zach with my eerie recognition skills. I introduced myself to him and explained how I knew his name. (Yeah, I’m sure I was creepy. ;) We lost him in the crowd, but he found us again, and we got to meet Jen and Amy! Yay! So nice to meet you all!
On a separate note; I notice a lot of things out there as a Physical Therapist, especially other people’s gait. And boy did I see some crazy things! Several people didn’t have any hip extension (stretch your hip flexors people!). One girl had significantly limited hip extension in her right leg, which somehow caused her leg to circumduct? (Her right hip looked really painful!). And the worst of them all was a girl with the worst knee valgus I’ve ever seen. Her knees kept bumping into each other, and I’m sorry, but your knees aren’t supposed to bend that way. The worst part about it was that she was just in front of us for at least 4 miles; we never got past her, and it was brutal to watch! I don’t know how she can run like that, but it will most likely catch up with her sooner or later… :(
I haven’t been too sore today, but we’ll see what tomorrow brings. I haven’t decided if we’ll run tomorrow, but we’ll probably at least go for a walk! ;)
Good job to everyone on their runs today! Hope to see you again, soon!
