Sunday 29 April 2012
This was not one of my best races in recent history. And I truly felt awful. More on that later, but I did finish in 1:45:04 which comes out to a 10:30/mile pace.
Saturday night I slept fairly well, though I probably stayed up too late watching the rest of Forrest Gump. I love that movie. I woke at 6:30 without the alarm and started getting ready. Typical Colorado spring morning – chilly with a forecast for sun and increasing temperatures. In this kind of weather I always struggle with choosing running clothes! Long sleeve? Short? Crops? Tights? Shorts? Gah. I ended up with my black Lululemon shorts and my green Under Armor short sleeve shirt. And at mile 2, I was happy with that choice despite being a bit chilly at the start.
Around 2000 of the 10,000 race participants opted for the 10 mile course, and we started at 7:45 (the 5 milers and 5k started around 9:15 or 9:30). I kept a good, easy, 9ish pace for awhile and I felt really good. But I started to feel dizzy and lightheaded and just… weird around mile 5. I’m going to go ahead and blame Claritin D for that. I’ve been taking it for a few weeks now, and I do feel really weird on it. The pseudoephedrine is jacking me up – rapid heart rate, anxiety – but its the only thing that works right now. *sigh*
The second half of my race really suffered. I saw Carol and Miles (so cute cheering on the runners!) at mile 7. I stopped for a minute to chat and kiss my little guy (so cute that he started to run after me!). Really, the rest of the race was a blur. I kinda just wanted to get to the finish and go home.
I really wanted to enjoy this race because I really do like it. The 10 mile course was new this year, and I liked the route through Cheesman Park and down 7th Ave. This race is fun with a lot of runners and great support. Its too bad I didn’t do well and I didn’t feel well.
Lessons Learned:
- no Claritin D!
- don’t forget gels or blocks!
- start slow and build my pace
- totally dressed appropriately

[…] started running. And I felt great. So much better than last year! When I made the turn north on Downing from Speer, I held back just a bit on my pace – I was […]