Fairhaven Runners Waterfront 15k Recap

Yesterday was race day. :) I went to bed and fell asleep easily on Friday night but woke up about an hour earlier than I had planned to. I guess I was subconsciously more excited than my conscious mind realized. LOL Got up had a small cup o' joe and an english muffin with peanut butter. And since Lydia wanted to tag along got her up and had a small battle over her not wearing pajamas. I won.

All ready to go!

Waiting near the starting line. 

We all got started and after about a half a mile and  having dodged several strollers and groups of walkers I finally felt like I wasn't being stifled by the people around me and settled into a steady, comfortable pace/rhythm. Just me and my music. I may look like a crazy person singing along under my breath as I run but it's what I do. Played leap frog with a couple of people along the way which means they run past me and then abruptly stop running and walk. If you run at a pace you can not maintain just freaking slow down, please! I supposed I should be flattered that they are using me as a rabbit (if I factor into what they're doing at all) but damn it can be really annoying. Eventually steady pace wins out, I get away and never see them again.

The first 6 miles really flew by, I was on cruise control for the most part. Then the course started back up hill. I was really wishing I had some Gu or a Shot-Blok or some fuel right about then, I really could have used the energy boost. I thought, "Only 5k to go, you've got this! Just keep running!"

I chose not to carry water and  just rely on the aid stations. I hydrated really well Friday night so the strategy worked out pretty well. Just enough water to keep my whistle wet and no potty stops necessary. :)

I focused  on my breathing and how I felt rather than what my Garmin was showing and since I couldn't hear it alert at the mile marks anyway it was easy to ignore.When I knew I had a mile to go I shuffled up "How Bad do You Want It" and let it push me past several people until I saw the hill that lead from the boardwalk back up to the trail. I knew I couldn't sustain the pace which was pushing my heart rate up to 180 up that hill and not pass out or puke so I dialed it back to recover a bit before tackling it one step at a time. Then I shuffled up "Roar" and pushed on. With just under .25 to go a girl started to pass me and my Kenyan came out and I dusted her as we were coming up the shoot. Seeing Andy & Lydia waiting near the finish put a huge genuine smile on my face. I say genuine because it felt happy and real, not forced or kind of faked like when I smiled for the race photographer.

Unfortunately the camera dies just after this was taken.

That's me back there on the left.

So we stopped by the finish line for a make up shot.

Official chip time was 1:36:33, average pace of 10:22. Here's the break down of my splits:

10:45, 10:28, 10:21, 10:26, 10:15, 10:12, 10:33, 10:22, 10:16 & .3 mi 3:10

Killed it! Right in the middle between my other two 15k races. Overall I finished 443/668, 260/441 all females, and 32/58 in my division F35-39.  

I think it's funny that organizers always say thins like, "Beautiful views of xxx." I don't know about anyone else but I am so not focusing on scenery while I'm running especially not in a race. LOL

Only thing missing? Medals. I like the bling, people! The fee for this race was low though so I'm not going to bitch about it. 

Next race ... Ferndale Law Enforcement & Firefighters Trot 5k next Saturday. After that? hmmm maybe the Birch Bay Marathon.