Saturday, October 8, 2011

Poconos HIM Race Report - Run Segment

I got into T2,  planning to go to a medical tent and get the diagnosis of broken toe and then released from the need to do the run.  I did not see a medical tent; got to my spot, racked my bike and took my bike shoe off expecting to see a purple, swollen toe.  There was a slight swelling, a little red mark, but no broken skin.  I carefully stood on my foot....no pain!  It was kind of disconcerting that I had so much pain earlier, and it was no longer there.  Nothing.  Now I had no excuse to avoid running, but could not imagine doing so.  So I changed my socks, put my sneakers on, took my jacket and t-shirt off (turns out in my nervousness before the race, I had forgotten to take off a t-shirt that I had worn just to keep warm before the race).

I put one foot in front of the other and essentially count down 13 miles to go; 12 miles to go; 11 miles to go.  Around the 3 mile mark I fantasized about turning around and going back.  But no, I couldn't do that.  'Let me try just one more mile'.  The first half of the run was basically uphill.  Everyone was in their own zone at this point, just trying to finish.  Saw Scott - fellow Brooklyn Tri Group member - sweating it out on the final leg of the run.

On the return, a couple of people passed me - turns out that the woman had been helping the guy pace himself, and now he was encouraging me.  So we ran together for a few miles, his name was Angel (no surprise I suppose) and I was able to finish the second half of the run a whole lot faster.  After we went our separate ways, I went back to running slow / walking.  I have to figure out how I can push myself to go faster on my own without someone else running with me.

Around the 12 mile mark I saw Janna, from Brooklyn, her excitement gave me the final adrenaline push to finish the last mile.  Turns out she texted Theresa and Jennifer and told them where I was so when I made the approach to Main Street, there they were!

Time:
Bike:  3:50:38 avg speed: 14.6mph
T2: 6:24
Run: 2:56:28 avg pace: 13:29
Total Time:
6:53:30

I was 43 out of 49 women in my age group; 283 out of 316 women overall;

1245 out of 1331 on the bike
1282 out of 1331 on the run. So I guess, I was in the 96th percentile - 96 percent of the people were faster than me; but that only includes people that were in the race.  In terms of health, fitness, fun I am way ahead of what I would have ever imagined for myself at this point in time in my life (or at any point in time for that matter).  Woo hoo!

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for this report, Pat! We've been rooting for you & had wondered how it went but I'd been overwhelmed w/work & had missed your blog & T's the last couple weeks. So happy for you that you finished the race & feel good about it. We do too! Our son & kids coming next weekend to PA, so looking forward to seeing them again.
    Love to you and Theresa
    S

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