catherine's running efforts

Rex E Lee 5k

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Location:

Provo,UT,USA

Member Since:

May 06, 2009

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

5K: 21:01, 9/11/2010

10K: 43:49, 7/24/2010

15K: 1:21:00, 5/22/2010

Half-marathon: 1:41:41, 8/28/2010

Short-Term Running Goals:

Now that I'm (almost for sure) done having all the babies, I'm working on building consistency and seeing how fast I can get in my old age. ;)

Long-Term Running Goals:

I'd like to be a healthy and relatively injury-free runner for the rest of my life.  

Personal:

I'm married to Eric (Faceless Ghost on the blog) and we have very active daughters and one dog. I have a PhD in sociology and demography, and I'm incredibly grateful to have work that is meaningful and that builds on my academic experience. I run because it makes me feel strong and it helps to keep the crazy away (there is a long history of abuse and mental illness in my extended family).

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Brooks Cascadia Lifetime Miles: 73.39
Saucony Kinvara Lifetime Miles: 372.79
Girly Altra Lifetime Miles: 366.08
Kinvara 3 Lifetime Miles: 175.92
NB Orange Lifetime Miles: 13.50
Race: Rex E Lee 5k (3.22 Miles) 00:23:28, Place overall: 7, Place in age division: 2
Total Distance
15.00

I had been nervous about today's 5k because I wanted to be faster than I was at my last 5k, but then last night I realized that the course is long (3.24 according to the website) and there are like a thousand people in it. So I decided not to take it too seriously. I still wanted to try, though. So I started in the third row back and ran with my elbows out for the first quarter mile or so, and then I tried to have a pushing-but-not-all-out pace for the first mile. Usually my first miles are the fastest, but the first mile in this race is entirely uphill and I don't like running up hills. That first mile was 7:44.

The second mile is completely downhill, so during that mile I tried to visualize falling forward (using the decline, not tripping) and told myself that the hill was helping me rest and got 6:33. During the third mile I thought about this girl that had been ahead of me for awhile. She looked like someone I should be able to beat, and I remembered something I had read on someone's FRB about how if you can see someone near the end of a race you can catch them. The third mile has a bit of uphill to it, so I thought about keeping steady. I got a little closer to the girl, and I decided that I'd try to pass her if I got the chance. (Third mile was 7:33.) At the end we have to run around the BYU track, so as we started on that I totally passed the girl and then just held steady. Then she surged and passed me back a few seconds later. By then we were coming around for the last bit of track, and I thought about passing her again. But you know that thing about how people will suddenly sprint and go way faster at the end of a race than they've been going the whole rest of the time? It's super awkward to me. Of course I think that people should do what they want to do, but if you've got enough energy to all of a sudden go twice as fast at the end as you have been going, wouldn't a person rather go a little faster throughout? Or maybe the excitement of being at the end gives people extra adrenaline. I don't know. Anyway, I didn't want to do that. Also I was kind of self-conscious about the whole trying-to-beat-someone-in-front-of-a-bunch-of-people thing, especially since it's not like we were super fast. So she was a little ahead of me. (Last bit was 7:23 pace.) But guess what? It turns out that if I *had* beat her, I would have gotten 1st (instead of 2nd) in my age group (I think). So now I wish I had tried to beat her. Especially since it would have validated that mile and a half where I was thinking about how I could totally take her. 

I was a little bummed because my goal had been to be under 23 minutes, and as I was coming around the track I knew I wasn't going to make it. But Eric points out that since the course was long, if we assume that I would have gone the same pace for just .1 that I went for the .22, my time would have been around 22:34. That makes me feel better.  

 

Remember how last week I said I had anxiety about going up to 35 miles? I decided to skip that and go straight to 40, so a few hours after the race Eric and I dropped Elliott off at my sister's house and went to the Gold's Gym in Sandy. They didn't have the fancy new treadmills (even though when I called and asked the person who answered said that they did (liar!)), and there were only a few channels on the TV. But it was nice to be running "with" Eric. The first 6 miles were fine, but when I started on the second 6 I was feeling kind of sore. And the last 2 sucked so much. I even went faster so that it would be over sooner. But I'm glad I did it.  

 

Girly Altra Miles: 15.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments
From jun on Sat, Mar 17, 2012 at 21:54:47 from 174.23.165.212

Wow, congrats on the race. That is awesome. I agree with you about surging at the finish, although I might feel that way because I have no surge. Maybe it's because, like you say, I'm using that energy during the entirety of the race, I don't know.

From RAD on Sat, Mar 17, 2012 at 23:07:00 from 74.120.32.192

Awesome race Catherine! For an uphill course that is a killer time, plus the long course. Then you went out and busted some awesome long miles on a TM! I understand what you are saying about the sprint to the finish. I usually try to give all I can that last sprint, to get out anything left. But, I think it always leaves me thinking I should've gone faster in previous miles. I had a 'race to the finish' with a girl I'd be battling with for 4 miles today. I usually get beat, but I wasn't gonna do it today! :) Next time bust through - no worries about what others think, never let someone out sprint you! Unless it's me :)

From catherine on Sun, Mar 18, 2012 at 09:19:02 from 98.202.112.38

Thanks Jun and RAD! And RAD, I doubt I could ever beat you in a sprint. :)

From Bonnie on Sun, Mar 18, 2012 at 11:16:55 from 64.119.33.134

Congratulations Catherine! I think this is a great race and shows that there are some fast times to come!!! Love the pictures from after the race!

From allie on Sun, Mar 18, 2012 at 11:31:30 from 97.126.223.167

nice job, catherine. and great pictures, as always. elliott is so adorable.

From catherine on Sun, Mar 18, 2012 at 13:32:50 from 98.202.112.38

Thanks Bonnie and Allie. Bonnie - I hope so. Sometimes I feel like I'm just staying the same, even if the numbers look a little faster.

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