Sunday, October 30, 2016

Lakefront Discovery Run 15K



Lakefront Discovery Run 15K - October 29, 2016
time = 1:13:48
pace = 7:56
placed 8th in my age group (40-44) out of 91
placed 38th in women out of 595
placed 138th overall out of 1048
link to strava data

i want to start this post out by talking about beetelite.  i picked some of this up from REI a couple of weeks ago.  i tested it out on a couple of runs, and (to my amazement) there really was a noticeable difference in my performance and how my body felt while pushing it.  it doesn't taste that great (all REI had was the cherry flavor so that's what i got), however the taste is completely inconsequential when looking at the results.  as we all know that consuming beetroot juice (or beets in general) has been known to increase performance.  beets are full of antioxidants and good for all kinds of things from lowering the risk of heart disease to boosting endurance to combating constipation.  they just don't always taste that amazing.  when i found this product i thought... let's try it.  so glad i did!

the last road 1/2 marathon i ran was rock 'n sole in 2015 where my pace averaged out at 8:25, and honestly... this was the best i could do.  today's race went so much better!  honestly, i didn't start to "feel it" until mile 7 i guess.  that's when i really had to dig to keep up the pace.  i was doing all the pep talking at that point too.  letting myself know that i was almost done.  that i just had to work through the last couple of miles and so on.  verdict?  yes, beetelite works!

moving on...

the weather turned out to be PERFECT for me!  i hate, despise, and loath cold weather racing.  have i told you guys that before?  the only reason i signed up for this race was because of the promise that we could wait inside the warm building prior to the start.  turns out that wasn't necessary as it was around 55 degrees when we arrived and warmed up from there.   my son max was volunteering with my friend (and fellow oiselle volée teammate) laura.  we arrived at 8am so max could get to his volunteering position at the start/finish line.  one of the really cool things about this race is that they actively encourage costumes. it IS nearly halloween so it fits.  yes, as is evident from the above picture, i am a party pooper and don't dress up.  this is strategic tho'... i cannot run in things i'm uncomfortable in and we all know that i RACE to win not to have fun.  i suppose that sounds kind of stupid but it makes perfect sense to me.  when i run a race i am doing it to see what i'm made of.  to test my limits.  to leave everything i have on the course.  i run all the other days to have FUN... that's not what race day is about for me.

bunny laura, me, and gorilla max

i did all my normal pre-race routine things and pretty soon it was time to begin.  we all lined up and the race director got up on a ladder, said a few words, and then counted down with little fanfare and we were off.

the course was really nice.  we ran past the summerfest grounds along the lake past the art museum, up the hill by the war memorial, and then veered right onto the oak leaf trail.  we followed the trail up to lafayette hill where we hopped off and onto terrace avenue at the top of the hill.  followed that around back to the oak leaf (still at the top of the hill) and ran that for awhile.  this part is a beautiful paved trail that runs through lake park.  we ran through lake park to lincoln memorial drive and that was a most welcome descent.  we then continued to follow the oak leaf along the lakefront where the sun had come out in full force.  man!  was it hot all of a sudden.  the lake was beautiful and calm tho' so that made up for the sudden burst of sun drenched heat.  i'm going to say that this might have been the prettiest part of the whole run.

the whole time i was really focused on my strides.  i have learned that if i lengthen my strides i take less steps and effectively reduce my cadence.  i think this is important for me because i used to take a million steps and it was not energy efficient.  lately i've really been focused on my strides and have found that when i lengthen them and it seems i'm slowing down (because i'm taking less actual steps)... i ACTUALLY am going FASTER with less effort!  it's a beautiful thing!  so i focus on that and try to also focus on my back foot having a really strong push off to propel me forward.  so far so good.


once we got back near discovery world we ran out into lakeshore state park (the oak leaf turns into the hank aaron state trail at this point).  i was hurting by then and just trying to maintain my pace at while tricking myself into believing that i wasn't in any discomfort. i followed everyone (and i mean EVERYONE) in front of me through the park and towards the back of the marcus amphitheater.  there were two women directly in front of me that thought we were going the wrong way.  the one was telling the other that last year they turned around right at the loop we had just passed, and headed back the same way we had come so she was confused about where everyone was going.  however, because there were so many people in front of me i just continued to follow.  i have never run this race before so i had no idea who was right.  i figured that there wouldn't be that many people all going to wrong way... man, was i wrong!

turns out there were (at the very least) 50 or more people who all went the wrong way!  it only added a tenth of a mile to my distance... other people said it was longer, but i'm going with what my garmin says.  a 15K is 9.321 and my garmin said 9.4 so not a big deal.  i would have been more worried if we cut the course and since that didn't happen... who cares?

i finished as strong as i could running the final 1/2 mile in with a 7:50 pace.  it was pretty hard to maintain, but i just kept telling myself that i was nearly there and to push as hard as i could so i could be done.  i'm pretty proud of this finish time.  i didn't honestly think it was possible.  my goal for this race was to run it in 1:20 or under.  i absolutely exceeded my expectations there!

me, bettina, & sheila ~ oiselle volée team members
the finish was really crowded.  lots of people in costumes milling around who had finished running.  they had a lot of snacks but no bananas or any of the regular type finish items i'm accustomed to so that was a little disappointing.  there were lots of chips and cookies tho'... if you like that sort of thing.  i had some water and then ran into sheila who is also a fellow volée teammate.  we stood around and talked for a bit and i got to meet another volée teammate, bettina.   it was nice to finally get a chance to talk to these fantastic ladies for more than a couple of seconds.

max and i ended up heading to the car so he could get out of his costume (it had gotten much much warmer) and so i could change out of my running shoes into something more comfortable.  i don't know what the deal is with this new style of shoe, but i'm having an issue with my toes on my left foot.  they hurt after runs and i'm pretty sure i'm going to lose a nail.  i might have to look into different shoes if this doesn't change.  this is only my 2nd pair but i sort of feel like i had the same issue with the last pair... maybe not.

anyway... this race puts on a huge after party.  they had the boogie men playing and offered up more food that had to be purchased for $5.  the awards were really cool.  the top finishers received a disco ball trophy and the top age group finishers received medals with disco balls.  very nice!

yes... those are uggs.
all in all i would absolutely do this race again (contingent upon the weather, of course!).  the course was pretty easy and fun.  it was well organized (minus the detour snafu), and my only complaint is not having foods i would eat after a run.  a banana or two would have been nice as all i had was a handful of potato chips... not my first choice for nourishment after a hard effort.  i'm so glad the day turned out the way it did.  such beautiful weather for the end of october.

lakefront discovery run = a success!













and we're off!

fake it 'til you make it... trying to look strong in the last 1.5 miles


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