Friday Night Stampede Race Report

Friday night we schlepped ourselves down to my old stomping grounds, Auburn, for a 5K.  The appeal of this race was twofold:  it is pancake flat and they give you BBQ that you can eat in the middle of Main Street when you are done.  Score! 

The race began at 7:00 and it was a completely different experience than I am used to.  It is a tiny race; last year there were 162 people who ran it.  Such a tiny race does not have chip time, the start and finish lines were chalked or painted on the pavement,  and there was plenty of room to get your own pace going and not jostle or be jostled by anyone...totally novel.

Anyway, the gun went off (guy shouted "go") and we were off through the streets of Auburn (Liane - your old house is for sale!!  The high school looks EXACTLY the same!).  I used to think the town was, quite frankly, a shit-hole.  But it surprised me last night.  It actually looked kind of cute and quaint and just like a charming older downtown.  We ran through Les Gove park and there was music and people were barbequeing and having fun and it just smashed my negative feelings about the place.  I am kind of happy about that.  Still don't want to live there but hey, its progress.

So my brother has a phrase for when he goes out too fast during a race and that is "going out like a burning spastic".  Let's just say that is how I started the race.  I felt good, I felt strong, I felt like the 78 degree heat wasn't going to be an issue so I flew down the streets and was seriously thinking I would PR.  Then I reached the mid-way point and reality slapped me in the noggin.  There would be no PR, there would only be holding on to an attempt to keep my pace under 10 minute miles.  I actually had to take walk breaks that is how bad it was.  I can't remember the last time I had to walk in a 5K.  This was disheartening and a little humbling.  Even though the pace was the real killer I believe if it had been cooler I could have held on and at least been able to run the whole thing.  There was some blazing hot heat for running last night particularly where there was no shade and the sun was beating down on you and the open pavement.  Blech!

So here are the splits:

Mile 1:     9:14  (you see why I fell apart later?)
Mile 2:     9:31  (first half of this mile was still strong; second half went to hell)
Mile 3:    11:15 (ugh.  uff-da.  oy.)
.10           8:27  (I only put that in there to make myself feel better).

Overall time per Garmin was 31:24 which is a 10:07 pace.  Not even close to what I wanted but heading into the race it was kind of what I expected.  Official times aren't posted yet but should be mighty close to the Garmin.

BBQ report:  Beans, chips, pulled pork sandwich and lemonade sitting smack in the middle of Main Street listening to a band play Buddy Holly songs all night.  A pretty nice way to end a race and a day. 

Except, wait...there is more.  I got home about 11:00 and at midnight we headed up to the Tiger Mountain trail-head to lay on a blanket in the parking area and watch meteors until 1:30 in the morning.  Meteor Report:  16 each but we both saw a few the other didn't.  There was still a fair amount of light pollution up there but the sky was clear.  It should still be going tonight so go out late tonight and stare up at the sky for awhile.  You'll feel good.