Monday, December 17, 2012

One of "Those" Runs

Have you ever had one of "those" runs? One that you just can't get into your groove? One that nothing seems to be going your way? One that seems to leave you in a bad mood even after you finish it? Well, that was what my race was like yesterday morning.

It started off on a bad note and just never got much better.

They were going to start us in waves. The first wave was going to be those runners with 8:00 minute mile pace and faster, the second wave (which I was in) was runners with 8:01 to 10:00 minute mile pace, and then the third wave was runners with 10:01 minute mile pace or slower (plus walkers, strollers, etc). So when they told us that the first wave was getting ready to go I turned on my Garmin to locate satellites. Little did I know that we were all taking off in the first wave, so my Garmin didn't "find" me until maybe .1-.2 miles into the race and I felt like the start was a 'surprise'.

Next, the course was around Mission Park, so they had a bike "pacer" that was going out in front of us to show us where we were supposed to be going. Well, apparently the biker didn't know where the course was and took us on a wild goose chase. We did two extra loops around a park that we didn't need to (so instead of the course being 6.2 miles it was closer to 6.6 miles). So much so that on the results they posted:


Hot Buttered Run 10K Run and Walk


We would like to thank the participants in the First Annual Hot Buttered Run San Diego for being a part of such a great event. We would also like to thank those of you effected by the course misdirection for their understanding and patience. We are currently working to insure all of those whom ran the extra distance get credit for this extra distance by adjusting there time by - 03:00 minutes. We have applied these adjustments to those people in the first wave of the event. If you were in the first wave and we missed your correction or if you were in a different wave and still ran the incorrect distance please contact us immediately and we will subtract the three minutes from your overall time. Once again we appologize for our error and we hope you will particiapte in our events in the future


Then, I couldn't get into my 'groove'. My pace was slower than my recent training runs. I don't know if it was because it was later in the day than most of my other races (a 10am start instead of 7am), if it was because the course was a lot hillier than I expected, if it was because of my lack of fueling before the race, if it was because my legs were tired from my training the few days before, if it was because of the heat and humidity, or if it just wasn't my day.

Not to mention, the course wasn't a closed course, meaning it was still open to the public. So throughout the race we would be on a small sidewalk section (the course ran along the bay, so it was sand on either side of the pavement) and there would be random families of bikers or walkers that were just cruising at us. And in their mind we were just in their way... So not only were you having to weave around people in the race, you also had to dodge random people that were just out and about on their Sunday morning strolls in the park.

I had my photographer and cheerleader Ryan there with me. He took some pictures and tried to keep me motivated by saying things like 'At least you finished'. Below are some of the pictures that he was able to take (at least the pictures look like I am having a good time, hehe).



















I guess I am glad that if I had to have a crappy race it was just a 'fun run' and not one of my half marathons or anything like that. But I have to keep reminding myself - AT LEAST I AM OUT THERE DOING IT. I may not be the best, I may not be the fastest, but I am giving my best and trying to have a great experience in the meantime. And...


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