Winter Park Road Race - Race Report

Race summary (with official results):

Winter Park Road Race - 2 miler and 10K
Sat, March 24, 2007
Time: 7:00 am - 2 miler, 7:30 am - 10K
Weather: about 62 deg F. / 60% humidity

Daughter Finish time for 2 miler: 21:59 min / 10:59 min/mile pace
Div place: 22/41

My Finish time for 10K: 1:07:22 / 10:50 min/mile pace
Div place: 100/153

Today's weather was perfect for a race. Not too hot (for this thin skinned Floridian) at about 62 degrees at race start. The sun came out and made for a bright end for the race.

Today was incredible for many reasons. First, I ran into my friend Shirley who was working the computers at the finish line. Shirley had to be there this morning at 5:30 am (I was just getting up then) and this afternoon she is participating in a virtual triathalon by Simply Stu. Check her website out for more info! Swim, bike and run!!

Next, I got to meet Maddy!!! Maddy and her friend Kelly met us at our pre-determined location. By then we needed to head to the 2 mile starting line to get my daughter ready for her run. On the way I introduced Maddy and Kelly to Shirley! Then we headed to the start for the 2 mile race. My daughter just took off to line up and was out of sight before I knew it. She was ready to go! I was able to cross a block over and catch her about a mile into the race. She was running right along with everyone else. I then caught her at the finish line. She finished strong at 21:59 - a 10:59 min/mile pace - faster than our training runs. She got her finisher's medal and was so proud and excited!!!

At that point I had to quickly get to the 10K start area around the corner. My daughter hung out with Shirley. I was able to find Maddy again (the pink bandana was easy to locate!). We chatted a bit more until a lone saxaphone played the national anthem and the race was started. She and Kelly quickly ran ahead of me. I hoped to see them at the finish.

I had my Garmin set on a training mode - targeting a 1:10 finish - which translated into a 11:15 min/mile pace. The view of the Garmin just showed how much distance was left and what my avg pace was. I also had it automatically lapping the miles so I knew as I went how fast my miles were going.

The race: I used a Podrunner mix at 175 bpm to keep me moving (and it did just that). I was feeling kind of tired and running out of steam around mile 3, which was a little disappointing because I still had half a race to go. Then it dawned on me that the gel I intended to take before the race was still in my pocket!! I decided to take it at the next water stop and see if I could get a finish kick from it.

As I continued to run, people continued to pass me. I am not a fast runner and it is hard to watch folks go by, but I knew I couldn't run faster and finish strong, so I held back and tried to just enjoy the people out to watch the race and the beautiful Winter Park scenery.

Around mile 4 was the water stop, and as I struggled to get the gel opened I took it with a cup of water and was on my way. About a mile later I started to feel a bit better - I think the gel kicked in toward the end, which is what I was hoping for.

About a mile out my Podrunner mix finished, so I loaded up another one, this one 172 bpm. I was wearing out a bit and the slightly slower pace was good. As I was finishing the last mile or so, I kept trying to imagine where I would be on my normal runs and how I finish those up. I had to work on keeping up the pace but I was able to do it. Just ahead was a race walker that I decided I was not going to allow to beat me to the finish.

Coming down the last quarter of a mile, I finally passed the race walker. Maddy and Kelly were on the side cheering me into the finish line! As I made my final kick, the Garmin complained about my red lined heart rate (exceeded 180 bpm) and I saw the finishline clock at 1:06 and change!! What a great race!

Shirley was right at the finish - my daughter, who had been giving out medals to the finishers (she got bored and wanted to help) had my medal, but had stepped away to use the porta potty. I finally caught up with her as she was returning to her post, and received my finisher's medal from my daughter. Wow!

After that, we couldn't find Maddy and I failed (yes failed) to get a picture of Maddy and I. So we will need to plan a reunion some time. I did some audio recording during the pre-race period, so hopefully you can hear about Maddy on a future podcast.

Garmin Splits:

Mile 1: 9:55 (a little fast)
Mile 2: 10:38 (better and still ahead of pace)
Mile 3: 10:38 (how is that for consistency)
Mile 4: 11:29 (got a little tired at the halfway point)
Mile 5: 10:58 (Gel kicked in)
Mile 6: 10:40 (hanging in the last mile)
Finish: 1:06:21 total (last .2 was at 9:18 pace)

Avg pace: 10:42 min/mile, heart rate 167 bpm
Max pace: 8:02 min/mile (whoa, I can run that fast?), heart rate 182 bpm (yep, red lined on the finish)

Now here is something strange. I stopped the Garmin about 30 sec after finishing, and I could have sworn the clock was 1:06 and change when I crossed the finish line. But the official results had me finish in 1:07. Ah well. I was excited that my goal was to beat 1:10 and I did just that!!

My heel was a little sore by the time I got home but not too bad. I took some ibuprophen and did some stretching. I am not sure I will get a run in tomorrow - but today was great. It was the longest run I have done since the marathon.

Thanks to Shirley for meeting us and hanging out with my daughter, and to Maddy and Kelly for meeting us too! Here is hoping my refurbished computer comes back soon so I can get episode 2 of the podcast out and begin work on episode 3!!

Run strong everyone!