Auntie Em Goes Running

Chuckanut Footrace

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200920102011
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Member Since:

Jun 03, 2009

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

PRs:

MacDash Duathlon, Sept. 10, 2011.  1:29:48.  Second woman overall, third racer overall, and first in AG.  

Mt. Ranier Duathlon, May 1, 2011.  3:05:00, 1st in age group.  5.1 mile run, 28 mile bike ride, 3.78 mile run.

5K:  Fun With the Fuzz, April 23, 2011.  21:59,  1st in age group.

Marathon:  Paris, April 10, 2011.  4:05:24.  

1/2 marathon:  Geoduck Gallop, February 2011.  1:42:23, 1st in age group.

Waterfront 15K (September 2010), 1:14:43.  3rd in AG.

Lake Padden Duathlon (July 2010), 1:36:something.  1st in AG .

10K:  Smelt Run, La Conner (2010)  47:14.  2nd in AG. 

I have fun every time I run, and have recently overcome the "I can't go fast anymore" hurdle.  I'm having fun going faster and working towards becoming even faster.  

I have raised two running children, one competitive and one not.

I have learned to run in ice and snow and I don't complain. 

Short-Term Running Goals:

Work towards a faster marathon by Spring 2012.

Get my 5K down to 21:30. 

Place in my division at duathlon and triathlon.

Train for biathlon.



 




 

Long-Term Running Goals:

Joining Forrest Gump


 

Personal:

I'm a 52 year old mom of two ex homeschooled teenagers. They both think I'm nuts.

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Bike Shoes Lifetime Miles: 2225.45
Pearl Izumi Trail Shoe Lifetime Miles: 139.33
Marathon Shoe Lifetime Miles: 244.33
Blue Brooks Launch Lifetime Miles: 223.68
Mean Green Shoe Lifetime Miles: 318.72
Blue Kinvaras Lifetime Miles: 207.12
Brooks Defyance Lifetime Miles: 361.34
New Kinvara Lifetime Miles: 275.90
Hattoris Lifetime Miles: 41.29
Addidas Lifetime Miles: 168.97
Nike Vortex Shoe Lifetime Miles: 64.50
Orange Newton Lifetime Miles: 36.20
Race: Chuckanut Footrace (7 Miles) 00:58:02, Place in age division: 4
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
8.000.007.000.000.0015.00

Race Day!  This footrace is the oldest running race in the state of Washington, and is 95% trail.  It begins on Bellingham Bay, goes up into the forest, and travels along Chuckanut Drive to Larabee Park, also on the Bay.  Our group ran the race, then ran easy miles back to the beginning.  

Start time was 9am, which was really wierd, because I didn't really know what to eat for such a late start.  I was up at 5:00am, to watch Tour De France for a bit.  What an exciting day!  They were riding through the Pyranees, and it was absolutely beautiful!  I love watching it.  Anyway, I had coffee, then made a bagel and ate like two bites.  Met my group at the race start at 8:15, had a Gu, and did our warm up.  

Because the trail funnels onto a narrow trail about 1/2 mile in, they limit it to 1000 people. And it actually wasn't bad.  There was a brief bottleneck for maybe 2 seconds, then it was back to running.  My Garmin wasn't showing me my pace!  I kept hitting the bezel, trying to get to a different training screen, but it just wasn't happening.  So, I didn't really know my pace until mile 1, when I got a split.  It was 7:13!  Way, way too fast.  My plan was 8:30-8:45 for the first mile or so.  So I slowed down.  Next splits were 8:09, 9:06, 8:27, 8:34, 9:09 and 7:34 (nice downhill finish).  The 9s are big hills.  I walked the first one; its really steep and kind of long, and I needed to be able to run at the top.

I did really well just reminding myself of what I had to do to make my goal for this race, which was to get between 58:00 and 59:00, and have a strong finish!  A friend (in my age group) passed me at about 5, and it was soooo hard not to try and catch her.  But I didn't!  I held back and did my own thing.  I saw about a million people I knew, in the race, watching, passing out water, etc.  It was actually pretty hot (mid 70s).  My doctor was trying to catch me at the end, and he kept shouting at me from behind  "Can I borrow your inhaler".  So goofy, we just talked about my medications mishaps yesterday, and agreed that I shouldn't even carry the darned thing.  It was too funny.

I sprinted the finish, remembered to stop my  watch, and my son and his friend were there. The finish is at a beautiful park, with music, food, etc.  Our group hung around for about 30 minutes, then headed back down the trail.  I felt great, and expected to have a great, easy jog back to Fairhaven, but I was SO TIRED!  I've never raced hard before, then run 7 more miles.  It was a challenge.  My average mile on the way back was about 10 minutes.

Happy Day, successful race.  Finish time was 58:02, pretty much what I wanted.  And, if I compare this to my previous 10K pace, its quite an improvement too. 

 

 

Saucony Miles: 15.00
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00
Comments
From Carolyn in Colorado on Sat, Jul 11, 2009 at 17:57:53 from 71.229.164.25

Great job! Sounds like a beautiful race. You must be a popular person to know so many people at the race.

Congratulations on the running back after the race. I was going to do that after my race last week and it was only 4 miles, but I chickened out and had my husband come get me.

From Kelli on Sat, Jul 11, 2009 at 18:09:09 from 71.219.89.21

Great job! That would be very hard to race and then run that many more miles----good for you! Glad you had a fun time!

From Burt on Sat, Jul 11, 2009 at 21:12:46 from 98.167.151.26

Great job. I'm still trying to figure out how there were only 1000 people in the race, yet you saw 1,000,000 people you knew. Assuming you knew everyone in the race, that means there were 999,000 handing out water, watching, and cheering you on. (Why am I such a punk?)

From JD on Sat, Jul 11, 2009 at 21:31:27 from 166.128.200.61

Nice going! Then following up with more miles...awesome!

From auntieem on Sat, Jul 11, 2009 at 22:17:04 from 67.182.145.8

Burt, yeah, that's wierd isn't it. BUt I'm pretty sure it was one million.

JD - running back really kicked me. I'm still tired. I walked for a mile here and there.

From april27 on Sat, Jul 11, 2009 at 23:41:34 from 99.188.251.180

Aunt-you are a rock star! Great race and post run. Glad that you don'thave to use your inhaler and that this race went so well. And kudos to you for racing so soon after the 1/2!

From Bonnie on Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 12:44:26 from 75.164.35.228

Great Job!! I knew you were going to have a good race!

The Tour was great yesterday -- the big climbs are coming next week, what athletes they are.

From Snoqualmie on Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 15:07:56 from 67.171.56.164

Awesome racing! I am so happy for you, and it's exciting to see your racing personal blossom. :) I enjoyed your report very much. Thanks!

From Anita on Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 10:47:45 from 72.225.43.200

I am so amazed that you were able to run that GREAT race (congrats on achieving your goal!!) and then follow it up with seven more miles. That really says something about your endurance. I hope I'm there someday. Way to go!!

The race sounds absolutely gorgeous. I like trails, but I can never keep up the pace like you were able to do. I'm much slower on them. I think it is the fear factor. Fear of spraining an ankle or something. Our trails are definitely rugged/slippery/rocky here . . .

From auntieem on Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 10:51:32 from 67.182.145.8

Anita: Thanks. The trail was what I call a "non-technical" trail. I think its an old railroad grade maybe. I think I was more tired from the run back than I've ever been from running, EVER. I'm not sure I had enough fuel, and it was really hard to run back after running hard.

From Anita on Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 10:59:19 from 72.225.43.200

Interesting that it was a "non-technical" trail that had big hills. We don't have any of those here! Today I ran a flat trail from an old railroad, and that is totally easy, and I can keep the pace there. But often I run on these hiking trails in the woods, and those are totally hilly with roots and rocks and whatnot. Those are the trails where the races are held, and where I really can't keep up my pace.

I'm glad you felt confident of your footing and was able to hit your goal. That time would be really great for me . . .hope I get that fast someday.

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