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Ace Of Hearts 15K - Run15k


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Clearwater, Florida
United States
78F / 26C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 13m 43s
Overall Rank = 113/116
Age Group = F 40-44
Age Group Rank = 8/8
Pre-race routine:

Left the house at 6 AM......hey 5 hours sleep!
Event warmup:

Parked at the Eddie C. Moore sports complex, walked over and got my t-shirt, then walked back to stow said shirt in car. Finally got to over the pedestrian overpass there! whoo hoo!
Run
  • 2h 13m 23s
  • 9.3 miles
  • 14m 20s  min/mile
Comments:

When I used to live in Clearwater, a couple of times I caught a glimpse of a trail under an overpass on US-19. It looked so intriguing that I investigated and found out about the "East-West Trail." I wanted to explore, so one day I loaded up a bag with snacks and cigarettes and dragged my 300 pound body 5 miles out and 5 miles back and walked the whole length of the trail. There was no pedestrian overpass then, and crossing at McMullen booth was a pain! Needless to say, as slow as I walked, that kind of effort wiped me out for at least a week....and I haven't been back...until today! Seeing that the course was ON this trail was what made me sign up for this race....despite not having done a long run in over 8 weeks while I'm nursing a very sore hip flexor.

The race didn't start on time, but it was cool cuz I got to meet a cool lady whose daughter was doing the 5k...she was very proud of her and shared the story of her husband who had started the racing lifestyle at 55....but died at 60 anyways because of a heart-attack. She really helped take my mind of the impending humiliation of being dead last. I really DID expect to be last....assuming that mostly fast folks would be at such a small event.

One thing struck me as odd. It was chip-timed...they gave us chips (triathlon style, worn on ankle), but the only timing mat was at the finish, so that's pretty dumb in my opinion. I deducted the 20 seconds it took for me to start off the run segment on this RR.

The course was really pretty...especially the first 10k. It wound through ponds and trees and people's backyards! Looked though all the fasties on the turnaround for Besty...but never did see her (or perhaps I don't recognize her).

There were 2 girls running with a guy doing about 13 min/mi that I tried to hang with...we chatted for about half a mile, but I lost them when I got confused in directions and hesitated too long. It took me 2 miles to catch back up to them. However, after the first 5K (41 min), I managed to stay ahead. Unfortunately, this was because they slowed down, not because I got faster :(

Surprisingly, I didn't finish last and even better, there was race SUPPORT...and water...even for the last few of us!! I'm impressed with the race organizers and would do this race again!

Hit the 10k mark about 1:25 or so, but really struggled on the last 5k...did a lot of walking and my hip started really bothering me at mile 7. Had lower back pain too...like my kidneys hurt or something.
Post race
Warm down:

Glad I forced myself to do a race, proud of the effort if not the results.
Walked back to the car and set my nice wet stinky technical shirt on the back of the truck while I took a 'hardware picture' for some of the winners. Promptly forgot about it, and drove off without it. :(

After the race, went kayaking :)

What limited your ability to perform faster:

stupid hip, lack of training

Event comments:

Excellent support for the BOP!




Last updated: 2008-10-09 12:00 AM
Running
02:13:23 | 9.3 miles | 14m 20s  min/mile
Age Group: 8/8
Overall: 113/116
Performance: Below average
Course:
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2008-10-12 6:16 PM

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