Grand Old Day "On the Go" 8K Race Report

This wasn't a goal race for me...I chose it mainly because I wanted to find a race that the kids could do this summer, and they had a 0.25mi kids run (most of the kids runs around here are at least a half mile, which I thought was probably too far for them).

So, I hadn't trained specifically for this race, although I have been training for half marathons recently. I had also been feeling under the weather - I had a cough and some congestion the last couple weeks that just won't go away. So, I didn't go into this race with too high of expectations. My A goal was to break through 45:00, but I wasn't counting on that. My real goal was to set a new PR (which I thought I should be able to do reasonably easily based on other recent race times) by going sub 47:00.

I ran this race 2 years ago. At the time, it was my first 8K and my first race longer than a 5K. I actually ran it because I was hesitant to go straight to a 10K and I thought it would be a good stepping stone.

On race day, the family all got up early and headed out to the races. This was a bit different, as I usually go to my races solo. We were running a little late, so I jogged over to pick up my packet then met the family near the start line as I got prepared. A couple minutes later I had to go get lined up.

As we started I realized that I had started too far back - we were going way too slow, but I took advantage of that and made sure I ran close to the area where my family was standing so that I could wave wildly at the kids. Then, it was time to start weaving around a bit. When we got to the mile 1 marker, I realized that I was going way faster than I thought and figured that I would regret it later...oh well, this isn't a goal race anyway. So, I just kept going at what felt like a reasonable pace for 5 miles. I lost some time pushing my way up one of the hills which I remember thinking to myself on the way down the other side - gotta take that time back! At the turn-around I started to feel pretty tired and my side started cramping...weird, that doesn't usually happen. Then I realized that I wasn't breathing as deeply as usual, due to the congestion issues. I forced myself to take some deeper breaths and the cramp went away. Around this time is also when I suddenly decided to care about my finish time. I realized that I was exactly on pace to finish at 45:00 even. The 'back' part of the course was a little tougher than the 'out' part because of the hills, but I was now determined to keep up this pace. I somehow managed to keep it up, but had almost nothing left for sprint into the finish (I guess that is a good thing, right?) I ALMOST hit that 45:00...missed my a whole 3 seconds! But I beat my previous PR by exactly 2 minutes and did much better than I had anticipated, so I am very happy with the result.

About 15 minutes after my run it was the kids turn. We went to line up and I put us all the way at the back of the pack because I knew my DD would get freaked out by all the kids around her running all of a sudden (she gets scared of people quite often). We took off all hand-in-hand (too cute, I know) and both of them just kept laughing. As we got going, DD kept running ahead and getting in front of DS then slowing down - she wanted to beat him! We were the last finishers, but of course, no one cared. They both ran the whole distance - no walking at all! I am so proud of them!! I am especially glad that they had fun - they had smiles on their faces the whole way!

Stats
Race: Grand Old Day "On the Go"
Date: June 6, 2010
Distance: 8K
Official Time: 45:03
Average Pace: 9:04
Overall Place: 222/411
Place in Age Group: 28/61