Race recap-Spring Fever 6 mile

I had a great race this morning.  I ran the Spring Fever 6 Mile in Altoona.  The weather was a little chilly, but I was quite warm within the first mile and realized that I had over dressed.  Oh, well.  The course was mostly flat, except for a crazy-steep hill at the turnaround.

I have decided that I really like small town races.














 

There is no presumption, no egos.  Everyone is friendly and just there to have a good time.  Of course, there are no timing chips either, but I have my trusty Garmin!

I saw a familiar face in the crowd.

I see this guy at a lot of local races.  He is pretty speedy, too.  And he always has the bandana and the sunglasses on.  I couldn't believe that he was running shirtless today.  I may have warmed up, but it wasn't that warm!

I hung out at Jason's GNC table for a while before the race.  He even sent me home with some samples.  He's pretty awesome!


I was pretty happy with my time (57:08) and my splits:
Mile 1:  9:10
Mile 2:  9:32
Mile 3:  9:28
Mile 4:  10:10  (uphill)
Mile 5:  9:38
Mile 6:  9:14 (woot!)

You can see that my time kinda took a nose dive when I hit that hill just after the turn around.

I tried to be pretty methodical with this race.  I kept an eye on my Garmin consistently, so that I would know my pace.  And I kept an eye on the people in front of me.  I am so used to getting passed in races; especially towards the end because I just don't have any juice left.  Today, I wanted to maintain a steady pace and to try to pick off a few runners ahead of me.  I managed to succeed at those goals.

I stuck with her for most of the beginning of the race.  I was finally able to pull ahead just before the turn around.  This picture is taken just after mile 2.  That is the leader on his way back already.  He finished in just over 33 minutes!  Insane.

Next target.

Getting closer....

I encouraged her as I passed her.
On to the next goal....

Yay!!

I tried to run the last .5 mile in under a 9:00 minute pace, since I didn't have anyone else in my sights to catch up to.  I do love having the Garmin to keep me on track.

For breakfast, I had some yummy oatmeal with a banana, some frozen berries, flax and cinnamon.  It was fantastic.  After the race, I had a banana and a half and a peanut butter cup, and then went to Kwik Trip to get a cappuccino.

Since coming home I have snacked on some dried fruit and I will probably have some lunch soon.  I see a bowl of Kashi toasted Berry Crunch in my future.

Tim and I are going to Wausau tonight to celebrate my birthday.  We are going to get some dinner at Noodles and Company (with my free birthday bowl coupon) and follow it up with dessert at Cold Stone (with my free birthday bowl coupon).  What can I say?  I'm a cheap date!  I'm hoping the weather stays nice so that we can take a walk through the park.