Monday, July 7, 2014

Race Report: Zoom Quarry Lakes Half-Marathon, 10K and 5K

Posted by Katie

I feel a little funny calling this a race report since I didn't really prepare at all. Originally I had signed up for the half marathon (months ago actually) but I really hadn't trained for it per say. My runs so far have been in the 4-6 mile range, slowly ramping up for Lake Tahoe Ironman 70.3 and one weekend I did get to 8 ish miles, but it was broken up in two parts.

I did prepare by making this sweet cake and eating it the day before, Happy BDay America!
I knew completing the half would be a real challenge based on my training (or lack thereof). Part of me wanted to see what would happen but the other (and more rational part) knew that I would be at serious risk for hurting myself and derailing my training. The more logical side won out and the morning of the race I switched to the 10K distance. I guess I expected to simply switch my bib for the appropriate number (bibs starting in 5 = half marathon, bibs starting in 4 =10K) but instead there was a bit of shaming.

Notice the giant slash through my number and the written in 10K... #bibshaming.
The race itself was super fun! Probably the smallest race I have done but Matt’s family was in town and we had representation in all distances. It was really fun to race with them and cheer as those doing the half distance crossed the finish. I actually thought that Matt and I might cross the finish together… the half marathon started at 9am and it takes Matt ~1hr 25mins to run… the 10K started at 9:25 and takes me ~ 1hr, so it is possible that the timing would work out which would be really funny! In actuality I ran 55min and he did 1:26 so we were off by a few minutes, but that meant I was there to cheer him on!

Some thoughts on my 10K race:

I knew a PR was a real possibility as I haven’t done many 10K’s and I certainly have never specifically trained for one. I actually didn’t look up my prior PR (which would have been wise for goal setting purposes) but then again I did nothing to prepare for this race so the fact that I showed up and had sneakers on was a win. Going out, I felt pretty good and decided to try to keep it at 9 minute miles which I knew was in the vicinity of my prior PR. The race thinned out pretty quickly on the trail, but there was one girl up ahead of me keeping a steady pace so I decided to just sort of stay where I was and keep the distance between us the same.

At the turn around point, we headed back down the creek trail and had a slight headwind for about 3 miles. At this point TWO guys, fell in directly behind me to draft. Being a slowish runner I have never had this happen before, and it was only a SLIGHT headwind so it seemed really odd. Personally I am all about drafting and helping each other… but usually if I find myself sticking with a random person I make a point of saying “hey it seems like we are running at the same pace, you have been in front for a while, I can pull for a little” or something like “it seems like we are running at the same pace, do you want to push each other to keep this pace through the finish?” you get the picture. Also the trail at this point was ~6 feet wide with no one in sight, so drafting that close behind someone was really unnecessary. I was really just out there to run my own race and when one of the guys coughed hard and I could feel it? I got annoyed.

Lap Splits:
1: 9:03
2: 9:05
3: 9:07
4: 8:54
5: 8:44
6: 8:27 (Rash attempt to shake drafter)
7: 8:39

I owe a thank you (of sorts) to this person and their inappropriate drafting because had they not been right on my heels for 3 stinking miles I would not have pushed it so hard on mile 5 in a rash attempt to drop them (successful) and because of all that I ended up with a PR and 2nd in my age group!

Matt ran the half marathon and there was some course confusion in that race which was unfortunate. The lead pack that he was with (3 other guys) went the correct way, but a group behind them got confused and accidentally cut off 3 miles. Nothing the race director could really do afterwards, because the results were of course a little unfair*, but I do hope that they station a volunteer at that intersection next time because it was a bit confusing. I definitely saw two 5K runners make an incorrect turn there (but in that case they added extra distance).

*Update 07/07/2014:
Apparently someone walking by maliciously flipped the sign around which caused the group of half marathoners to go the wrong way (who does that?). The results were corrected though and Matt was rightly placed 4th overall and 2nd in his age group!

After the race we went back and grilled some great food, hung out and watched some soccer with great friends and family. All in all a pretty incredible Saturday! 

8 comments:

  1. Congrats on the PR! Awesome negative split, too! I can't believe the guy was so close you could feel him cough... gross. I'm glad you had a great weekend, enjoy Tahoe!

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  2. Surprise PR?!?! Well done! I am proud of you for shaking the drafters and beating your personal best! Great training for your future races!

    Have fun with Matt's family in Tahoe, but please come back (I know you would stay there forever if you could ;)).

    -Sandi

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    1. If you don't hear from me in a while... check Tahoe ;)

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  3. P.S. that cake looks delectable!

    -Sandi

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  4. I can't believe someone did that maliciously! What is wrong with some people?!

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  5. That cake = mad skillz. Also yay 10K! Congrats on the PR :). I think 10K might be my favorite distance.

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  6. You're really good at the surprise PRs, K.Megs! As annoying as that shadower must have been, I suppose he somewhat inspired the lovely negative split :). Nice work!

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