Monday, July 26, 2010

Harrisburg Mile Results

Ever have that feeling you are forgetting something?  You just keep thinking there's something you should do, but you can't remember exactly what that could be?  That's what happened to me last week.  I wrote the hype post about the Harrisburg Mile, then never told you how it went.  Dork.  Thanks to Nicole for reminding me about that.

So, it was a warm night.  Not awful, but I had a feeling it wouldn't be as pleasant as I would like.  When we got to the starting area, to our surprise, was a really nice breeze.  I was impressed.  And happy.  :-)  We got there about 45 minutes before our time (the start was staggered based on age or the corporate challenge.  Our start time was 7:15 p.m.).  It was good we got there early as we ran into two people we knew.  It was great fun actually seeing people we are friends with.  That never happens! 

We lined up about 7:10 p.m. just waiting for the start horn.  And I mean horn.  They use an air horn as the starting bell.  LOL!  At 7:15 p.m. the horn went off and we ran.  I run slow.  Always have, probably always will.  But, it was nice this year as there were two other people who were running about my pace.  Yea!  I say that because my hubby was running it to race not to keep me company. 

I had my Garmin with me to help me keep a consistent pace.  I started off fast (for me) at 6.2 miles per hour.  I can't keep that up for long and I didn't, but I hit the 1/4 mile marker at 2:35ish, which is the fastest 1/4 mile time I've ever had.  I was psyched!  What was funny was it felt like the 1/4 mile marker came up so quickly too!  Then it was off to the 1/2 mile marker, which also came up faster than I thought it would.  I got to the 1/2 mile point at 5:30, which again is the fastest I've done 1/2 mile.  Crazy!  As I came up to the 3/4 mile marker, I was all excited to see how I was doing.  And they didn't have a working clock and the person with the stop watch wasn't giving times.  Grrrrr... Garmin said I was about 8:45, which is again a record.  :-)  I was having a fantastic race!

Now I'm coming up to the finish line.  This was the only part of the race when I thought the end wasn't coming fast enough.  LOL!  I got around the curve and saw the end in site.  It was glorious and I was in the 11 minute range.  WHAT????!!!!????  I had no thoughts I would manage to run the Mile in 11 something minutes.  So, I booked it.  I ran faster than I ever ran before in my life.  I wanted to be on the mat before the clock went to 12 minutes.  And according to Garmin, I was at 11:59.  I did it!  I so wanted to run the Mile in under 12 minutes, but not having run in two weeks, I had no thought it would happen.  Oh, I was so excited!

After the race, I desperately needed water.  Went to the water station and they were out.  Oh so mad.  When I complained about that, she told me to have some of the ice they used to keep the bottles (when they had them) cold. Uh, no.  Ewww!  We then tried to get some water from an ice cream truck, but the girl was chatting with a friend and apparently didn't want the business.  We started to leave and she said she would help us.  Yea, no thanks.  So, we just hit the beer tent for a drink.  It was cold, thank heavens!

We had one beer, then off to dinner.  Tradition dictates we head to the diner on the way home for breakfast foods.  :-)  Had yummy french toast and then a donut.  LOL!  We earned them this night!

2 comments:

  1. Good for you! Congrats on achieving your under 12 min. goal and for running in this oppressive heat!

    A diner??? You are such a NJ girl at heart!!!

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  2. The only saving grace was that there was a breeze off the Susquehanna River. The last two times we ran it, dead air. Awful, oppressive heat. Ugh. At least the air was moving a tad this time.

    Such a Jersey girl! I kinda felt bad though because they were closing in 20 minutes when we got there (yea, the diners aren't so much Jersey style). They said it was ok, but I still felt kinda bad.

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