Challenge Isolation Indoor Track Meet 2009 Race Report

Once again I was impressed by the welcome I received from the other runners. This was my first track event ever. It was a pretty small group (at least compared to what I am used to at 5K events etc). There were enough people for 1-3 heats of each event. When I first entered the track I was wondering what I had gotten myself into...there were a number of people warming up that appeared to be WAY beyond my skills, and they were ALL men. Some of them were older gentlemen who had probably been running & racing forever (at least that was my initial impression). Then there was the group of guys who ran together in college a couple years ago. Well, I sucked up and went over to sign-up for my event. Immediately, I started to feel welcomed. People were asking what my 'specialty' was etc. Anyway, by the time I got signed in and started warming up, a couple other females showed up - including a couple young girls.

The first event was the 3000m run. I watched and cheered on the runners. Several other runners told me what to expect as we watched.

Next was the 1 mile...my event. The organizer asked if everyone had participated in track events before...nope, this is my first. He actually got excited and told me the rules etc. Then the race started. I took off on my first lap and when I came around I realized I was WAY ahead of my planned pace (uh-oh, usually not a good thing!) I slowed it down a little and fell into a pace that I thought I could maintain for another 7 laps. After about my third lap I realized just how dry my mouth was getting - WOW, they weren't kidding about that dry air in here! As I came around to finish my last lap and saw that the clock was right around 8 minutes, I about fell over from shock. I tried to sprint to the finish, but I had left everything on the track and could barely speed up at that point.

As soon as I stopped, I realized how bad my throat/lungs were burning - from the dry air. I had to go to the bathroom and thought I was going to puke because I was coughing so hard.

Overall, I cannot believe I actually ran that fast! My time was faster than my wildest dreams! I was actually dreaming for a 8:30 finish and...finished in 8:08.9!!

I stuck around for a couple more events before I had to leave to get to work.

One 2009 goal down...ran a 1 mile race.

Stats
Race: Challenge Isolation Indoor Track Meet
Date: January 18, 2009
Distance: 1 mile
Official Time: 8:08.9
Overall Place: ?/??
Place in Age Group: 1/1