I had my first race since I broke my leg. And it was on the trails. To say I was nervous is an understatement.
I was getting ready to leave while my dog was screaming at me. Shadow was very upset she wasn’t going. I gathered up everything and headed out the door. I went to check-in, got my bib, and realized I forgot my bib belt. DOH!
Of course, since I got a new vehicle, I didn’t have my spare safety pins either.
I sat in my truck and tried to figure out how to attach my bib to my hydration vest. I eventually realized I could tie it to the back of my vest. It stayed on! I only checked once in the middle of the race.
The Estrella 5k is done twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. It’s the same course, but it reverses for the fall. This October, I finished in 40:10 and a year ago 41:34. WOW! And here I was worried that I would be super slow and shakey on my return! (For reference I did the course in May in 38:10).
So even though I started off a little anxiety-ridden, I had a pretty good race!
As I was running the course, I was thinking about things I would want to write about in my race re-cap. But can I remember any of them now? Nope. I started out in the third wave. There are usually three or four waves, and you just go in whatever wave you want. The race coordinator sends them off every 30-60 seconds. I typically go in the second wave, towards the back. I figured I’d do the third because I didn’t know how my race would go.
I probably would have been ok in the second wave. I was at the front and passed several people immediately. I then followed another woman (maybe a bit too close, but she was running the exact pace I wanted). The first part of the 5k was pretty even elevation wise, not too much up and down. I ran the first mile and had no issues.
It started to get a little more challenging in mile two. I ran most of it but walked a few of the inclines. This was also the point I made the observation that I need to eat more before a trail race. I had a bowl of picky oats (half serving), and four Gu chews about 10 minutes before the race. It was not enough.
I think I walked most of mile three. It had ALL the elevation. I tried to run on the declines and more flat parts. This is probably why I’m faster in the spring… we get the elevation done early!
I had one moment of panic. I was running down a decline and felt my right ankle/leg twist. For a second, I had sheer terror of re-breaking my leg. Thankfully I did not break it, nor did I really do any damage at all. It was fine, and I continued on.
Do you have races you do every year and can compare your performance to? If so, which races?
