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Rotary Run Around 2-Mile<br>
Portland, OR<br>
Overall Time: 16:06 (20 second PR for this distance!)<br>
Mile 1: 7:55<br>
Mile 2: 8:11<br><br><b>Breakfast Report:</b> Oatmeal w/ dried cranberries & hazelnuts, coffee, water<br><b>Fashion Report:</b> Black Marathon Girl skirt, LS red tech shirt layered under my Red Lizard SS shirt, black visor, black running gloves, & my new Sauconys<br><br>
Oh. My. God. I JUST RAN MY FIRST EVER SUB-8 MINUTE MILE!!!! OK, now that I've gotten that out of my system, let's talk about the race.<br><br>
This was the inaugural Rotary Run Around, the brainchild of a guy in our running club who thought it would be fun to see if he could get permission to hold a road race at the newly paved Portland International Raceway. A C race at best for me, conveniently scheduled at the end of my rest week where I'd typically do a time trial in each sport as part of my Alcatraz build. The perfect time for a fun run. However, due to my inherent clumsiness, the race almost didn't happen as I'd twisted my right ankle two weeks ago which forced me to cut down my run volume and intensity. I still kept this race at the back of my head as something I would do if I was 100% certain that my ankle was healed, meaning that I was able to do several sub-5K pace pickups with no ill effects. I did that last Thursday so that meant I was racing on Saturday. Woohoo!<br><br>
I mixed up my pre-race routine a bit by having oatmeal instead of a bagel with peanut butter for breakfast and it was a good decision. I didn't have that rock of a bagel sitting in my tummy and no peanut butter burps. Why that took me two years to figure out, I'll never know. It was a pretty uneventful drive out to the track where I registered and took off into the misty morning fog with another member of the running club. We jogged the course together to get loosened up. This race was held in two heats with the superhuman sub-6 min milers followed by us more human folk. It was a great call by the RD since it gave us the opportunity to see more than the plumes of dust leftover by the fast ones. Once the first heat was over with the winner clocking in at 10:3o-something, the rest of us lined up. My race strategy? If it doesn't hurt, go faster. This was a time trial after all. And we're off. The track is smoother than butter and flat so speed rules. Since it was a small field, there really wasn't much passing going on. We were strung out by the first mile and stayed that way for the duration of the race. I hit the 1/2-mile mark and glanced down quickly. 3:4x? Oh crap. I think I went out to fast but I hadn't hit the red zone so I continued cruising along. Mile 1 split: 7:55! My runner's high pegged at the realization that I just ran my first ever sub-8 min mile and that high carried me through the rest of the race. I cruised through the second mile, kicked pitifully (I need to work on that), but finished feeling strong. And the other great thing? I now have a picture of me running on air. It's going to be a good season.<br><br><img alt="" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2062/2269338039_b800cebf8b_m.jpg" style="border:0px solid;">
Portland, OR<br>
Overall Time: 16:06 (20 second PR for this distance!)<br>
Mile 1: 7:55<br>
Mile 2: 8:11<br><br><b>Breakfast Report:</b> Oatmeal w/ dried cranberries & hazelnuts, coffee, water<br><b>Fashion Report:</b> Black Marathon Girl skirt, LS red tech shirt layered under my Red Lizard SS shirt, black visor, black running gloves, & my new Sauconys<br><br>
Oh. My. God. I JUST RAN MY FIRST EVER SUB-8 MINUTE MILE!!!! OK, now that I've gotten that out of my system, let's talk about the race.<br><br>
This was the inaugural Rotary Run Around, the brainchild of a guy in our running club who thought it would be fun to see if he could get permission to hold a road race at the newly paved Portland International Raceway. A C race at best for me, conveniently scheduled at the end of my rest week where I'd typically do a time trial in each sport as part of my Alcatraz build. The perfect time for a fun run. However, due to my inherent clumsiness, the race almost didn't happen as I'd twisted my right ankle two weeks ago which forced me to cut down my run volume and intensity. I still kept this race at the back of my head as something I would do if I was 100% certain that my ankle was healed, meaning that I was able to do several sub-5K pace pickups with no ill effects. I did that last Thursday so that meant I was racing on Saturday. Woohoo!<br><br>
I mixed up my pre-race routine a bit by having oatmeal instead of a bagel with peanut butter for breakfast and it was a good decision. I didn't have that rock of a bagel sitting in my tummy and no peanut butter burps. Why that took me two years to figure out, I'll never know. It was a pretty uneventful drive out to the track where I registered and took off into the misty morning fog with another member of the running club. We jogged the course together to get loosened up. This race was held in two heats with the superhuman sub-6 min milers followed by us more human folk. It was a great call by the RD since it gave us the opportunity to see more than the plumes of dust leftover by the fast ones. Once the first heat was over with the winner clocking in at 10:3o-something, the rest of us lined up. My race strategy? If it doesn't hurt, go faster. This was a time trial after all. And we're off. The track is smoother than butter and flat so speed rules. Since it was a small field, there really wasn't much passing going on. We were strung out by the first mile and stayed that way for the duration of the race. I hit the 1/2-mile mark and glanced down quickly. 3:4x? Oh crap. I think I went out to fast but I hadn't hit the red zone so I continued cruising along. Mile 1 split: 7:55! My runner's high pegged at the realization that I just ran my first ever sub-8 min mile and that high carried me through the rest of the race. I cruised through the second mile, kicked pitifully (I need to work on that), but finished feeling strong. And the other great thing? I now have a picture of me running on air. It's going to be a good season.<br><br><img alt="" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2062/2269338039_b800cebf8b_m.jpg" style="border:0px solid;">
