All day my old injury had been aggravating me. My left butt hurt when I sat down; my right upper hamstring area burned when I leaned on that leg. I tried not to think about it; I tried not to think about the afternoon’s race. For it was the fourth and final 3.5 mile Media Challenge Race in a series of five (rescheduled from a day of thunderstorms), and I was hoping to PR, though it seemed unlikely given the return of a familiar pain.
Finally at 6:22 PM, my colleague SN came into my office and said, “We gonna do this thing?” and I immediately chased him out so I could change–we had to leave in eight minutes. Yes, we are gonna race! I thought, Maybe my muscles just need to warm up and I’ll be alright.
Weather conditions were less tough this time, with the heat and humidity easing off just enough to give the illusion of favorable conditions (everything’s relative, right?). However, as I was styling my pigtails at the bag watch benches, both hair ties snapped! I had no backups at hand–all of a sudden, I felt like Samsonette. Quickly a colleague offered me an extra elastic so I could at least get my hair off my face–but a single ponytail? It didn’t bode well.
Then, I was talking to my old friend KP when they gave the “Go!” signal—that’s right folks, I was distracted, and missed the start. I lost a few seconds as I pushed my way over the line, only then awakening Little G. This earned me a raised eyebrow and a laugh from my department-mates, who know me as the gritted-teeth competitor (at least against myself, and the few runners I manage to pass in any given race), ready to use any slip-up by another racer to my advantage.
With or without me, it had started. For the first loop I kept the effort level elevated but not anywhere near what I did last week at Nike Speed. Mile 1 – 8:51. Mile 2 – 8:31. When I glanced at Little G and saw the split, I thought it said 9:31, so I really picked up the pace and thus: Mile 3 – 7:59. The final Mile 3.51 would up at 3:40 (7:15 pace). Final time? 29 minutes flat, beating my previous by just 13 seconds, but the only reason that happened was because I ran 0.05 miles less this race (according to my Garmin). This race, my average pace was 8:16 minutes per mile; the last one was 8:12.
Alas. A stunning PR wasn’t to be in 2009. As all good Mets fans know how to say, with notes of hope, denial and pluckiness in their voices, There’s always next year. This year, I learned to pack extra hair ties and to stop chatting up the boys before the race.
(Injury nutshell: I was sore after the race; I went to PT today and took the day off; I am not freaking out.)
Pigtails Flying 
I’m confused…how do you go 13 seconds faster but still have a slower pace? During a race, you gotta look at chip time to determine your time; if LittleG had you faster than the chip time, which one would you have gone by?
Congrats on the (kinda?) PR. And I’m sending good vibes your way for that pesky abductor brevus.
I ran 0.05 miles further in the first race, thus lowering my pace per mile. Granted, you could say that I ran a more tactically the second time around, sticking closer to the tangents and weaving less so I covered less ground (this is smart racing). But stricly comparing distance and time, I was slower on Tuesday.
My butt still hurts. Sigh.
Those tangents are killers when the rec lane is full of other runners. Congrats on a great tactical race, and overall as well! It was hot out there.
Doesn’t someone make racing hair ties?? Athletes have special needs.
I hate when I don’t get my Garmin started on time! Whether you PRed or not, though, it’s still a great time, and pretty close to last year. At least you’re not getting SLOWER! 🙂
Congrats on your good race! If you didn’t start little G on time, sometimes the distances can get a little wacky so I’m thinking you probably ran the same distance as last time.