Race Recap: Burn Rubber 10k

The Burn Rubber 10k/Half Marathon is the second race of the Rubber City Series.  I wasn't able to go to the first race in the series, so I had no idea what to expect.  Being sick enough to take Amoxicillin this week, and noticing a decrease in my strength and pace, I was a bit nervous about running any race at all.

The race was scheduled at 6:30 AM, and the race-day communications suggested runners arrive before 5:30, when roads would start to close.  I live less than fifteen minutes away, so I left my house at 5:00 and got there in plenty of time. . . sort of.  I arrived at the ONLY OPEN ROAD to the parking lot around 5:15 and waited in a huge traffic jam to move less than a mile into the parking lot, where there were plenty of spaces, by the way.  I didn't even get into the lot until 5:40, which set off my grumpiness and irritability.  I was lucky.  Anyone who was behind me had an even longer wait, and checking the Facebook site for the race, I saw that traffic was backed up onto the expressway.  This was definitely a fail on the part of the race director, but he made it right by delaying the start time by fifteen minutes and sending police out to the off-ramp to direct traffic.  This is the inaugural year for the Burn Rubber, so I am willing to give this mistake a pass because I am certain it won't be a problem next year.

I found my peeps from The Ohio Runners Network, and we took a cool picture in front of the start line:

The picture isn't blurry; we are.  It's early!

Then I found Shelby in the corral, and we took a selfie:

This is EXACTLY how I look before I find out there is a fifteen minute delay.

The gun went off, and away we ran, only to stop abruptly to get around the pace car, a Goodyear race car that had stalled in front of the start line.  It wasn't funny at the time, but when I saw the video of the driver and race director trying to get it started, I laughed out loud.  I can't even imagine what words were coming out of the driver's mouth as he kept trying to turn over the engine.

I went out fast in my first two miles, which seems to be my MO, but usually I feel great in the first two miles of a race, and I have to calm myself down.  This time I was still going fast, but I felt awful; I could tell that I would be racing the struggle-bus the whole time, and I was grateful that I chose the 10k rather than the Half-Mary.

By Mile 3, I was super hot, and I decided I would walk through every water stop on the course, drinking a cup and dumping a cup over my head.  This lost me a lot of time, but it was my choice not to carry my own water, and I did think about it, so I can't be too angry.  My body was telling me that I was still not 100%, so I'm glad I made a conscious choice to slow things down a bit.

The Goodyear Blimp followed us the whole race.  I never get tired of seeing the blimp.

Around Mile 4-ish, I was running just behind a guy who was really having fun with the race: he was telling corny jokes to anyone who would listen, he high-fived people on the route, and he thanked every volunteer.  I decided that I had to relax and try to be more like him, so I changed my mantra to "Relax-er, Runner, Relax-er, Runner," which coincided with my breathing.   Yes, I know "relax-er" isn't a word, but I read about it in Runner's World, so I decided to try it.  When I felt like a mantra was too complicated, I simply chanted my breathing method: "In, in, in, out, out.  In, in, in, out, out." This was surprisingly relaxing and helpful to me, so I stuck with it.

We headed into the Goodyear Proving Grounds for the last mile and change of the race, and boy, was that cool!  I have never seen a race track up close, let alone run on one, and I really enjoyed it, as well as the DJ and loud music parked in there.  At this point I started getting excited again, and I actually felt pretty good (Really???  It took me almost FIVE MILES to feel good?), so I shaved thirty seconds off that mile, but I still didn't push it until I got to the chute.

Waiting for me in the chute were a super-sweet medal, water, chocolate milk, a banana, and the best part was a towel from TruMoo soaking in ice water that a volunteer draped around my neck.  It was so hot, and I really appreciated that towel.

Then the fun started.  I had two food tickets and a beer ticket to cash in while listening to a great band sing my favorite songs.  There were food trucks from Swensons, Eddie's Cheesesteaks, and Strickland's Custard, all Akron institutions.  And there was great beer: Shock Top, Goose Island, and Bud Lite.  I'm so happy that many race directors are moving away from crappy Michelob Ultra beer; runners love good beer.

8:00 AM: Strickland's Custard and a Shock Top beer.  Missing:  the Galley Boy from Swensons that I just devoured.

This race was a PR for me, even though I was sick and it was nowhere near the pace I should have run.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that I came in tenth in my Age Group!  And no, there weren't only ten people in my age group.  Shelby fulfilled her goal of a sub-2 hour half marathon, and I am so happy for her!  She has trained really hard for this, and she earned that time with every step.

Way to go, Shelby! What a badass!

Overall, I think this race is a winner, and I will definitely sign up again for the series next year.  This was a really fun event, and I think that the race director will fix the road access problem for next time.  I really appreciated the Akron-ness of the event; this is a great way to celebrate all things Akron.  Plus, I got a great medal and t-shirt:

Until next time: Run happy, Peeps!

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12 Mile Boost

It's no secret that I am battling a lack of running mojo lately.  I smile, I show up, I do the run, I do the strength training, but I'm just not feeling confident.

Neither one of these seems to work lately.

It's also no secret that some of this lack of confidence probably stems from dealing with my father's death in June, something with which I really haven't come to terms.  (Read my post about it here.)

I suspect that I went through a slump like this at the same time last year, but I haven't read those posts yet because I choose to wallow for a bit.

This is EXACTLY how I look when I choose to wallow for a bit.

Now, there are some very positive things that have happened to me just recently.  First, I came up with a plan for my dreaded tempo run.  I have decided that I am going to run Sand Run Parkway the difficult way (downhill first half, uphill on the way home), and I'm going to better my time each time I run it.  Also, I'm going to focus on an even pace rather than racing the downhill part and suffering the uphill part.  I did this on Thursday, and while my overall time may have been slower, my splits were even, and I felt great.

The second positive thing that happened is that I won't have to deal with two very toxic people who really took up too much of my psychic energy for the past few years.  Those people are gone, and I wish them well.  I will be going back to work this year with a sense of hope that I had been lacking for quite a while.

Yet I am still anxious and worried about the Akron Half Marathon.

Last Wednesday at the track, Mandy invited me to do the long run on Sunday with her--twelve miles--with the condition that we keep it around 10:30 a mile.  Normally this would be no problem for me, but the heat and humidity have really messed with my runs (and my head) lately, and I immediately starting doubting I could keep up for twelve miles.  See, it's this kind of mental crap that I'm talking about; self-doubt sucks.  Anyway, I said I would go with her, and today I did.

What a boost!  Our overall pace was faster than 10:30, with one mile at 9:45, and NEGATIVE SPLITS!!!  I am normally not a negative split runner, but I am really happy with this run.  Not gonna lie, Peeps, I suffered in the last two miles, but who doesn't suffer in the last two miles?  Mandy, that's who, but she's just a damned kid.  This old lady finished a minute behind her, and I'm just happy that my time was so good, especially since we ran in the same heat and humidity that has been bothering me all along.

This is EXACTLY how I look when I run negative splits in a 12-miler.  This is also my first experience with a selfie-stick, which Mandy says is the best 8-buck investment she ever made.

I can do this.  I just need to shut down the stupid head games.

Coming up: the Burn Rubber 10k in Akron.  Until then, run happy, Peeps!

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