Panera Hunger Run 2010 Race Recap

Just 3 words will describe this race: HOT, HOT, HOT!!!

 Me and E before the race.

I was a bundle of nerves for this race. Almost as bad as my first 5k I ever did. I didn't sleep too well the night before. Although I got good sleep the last few previous nights which is the most important. It was about 82 degrees when the race started at 8:15 a.m. I was happy that the race was on the asphalt park trail instead of the concrete road beside it. It is so much tougher to run on concrete. However, this trail is not very wide at all and there were a lot of walkers in the race. Someone needs to teach race etiquette- slower people need to stay on the right! Another disadvantage to this race is that it is manual timed not by race chip. I think it took about 30 seconds to get cross the start line once the race started.

I don't know why I look like I have huge dark circles under my eyes. I think it's the camera! Do you think this guy was trying to get his picture taken too? ha!

waiting...

Overall the course wasn't too bad. There are some trees that shade the first 1/4 mile, but then after that it was open to the hot sun. It had a nice slope up the first half. I didn't take my first walking break until I reached the half way point. I was really starting to get over heated. There were also only 2 water stations which I don't think is enough for this heat. That water was wonderful and I thanked the ladies over and over again  =)

One huge mistake I made was changing the settings on my Garmin the night before. I set it to laps so I could see my pace for each mile. Big mistake as it stopped showing correctly not even after my first lap finished. Of course I couldn't figure out how to change the display during a race! I did have my timer set to warn me when I was below 9:35 mile/min so I could hear that go off. I was surprised there were times I didn't even hear it go off. With the heat I decided it was ok if I went slower. I had maybe 3 or 4 walking breaks. Whenever this guy walker passed me I knew I better get my booty going again. No way was a WALKER going to pass me in a race. He crossed the finish not too far behind me haha!

I don't finish pretty!

 When I came home I had a nice ice bath and ate watermelon. Very refreshing! I'm trying to figure out when my next race will be. I know I want to do the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5k September 25th. The weather will be cooler then. I'm also doing a larger race this fall with a running buddy! I'll be announcing this soon. I'm so excited I can barely contain myself!!


My Garmin stats:
Distance 3.23 miles!
Time: 31:59
Average Pace: 9:48 min/mile
Best Pace: 7:40 min/mile....hmm, that must have been at the beginning because I was dragging rear at the end!

And the best part....the official stats!!


133rd out of 372 total runners
54th out of 217 females
5th out of 21 age group!!

Although I'm 30 seconds slower than my last 5k I am extremely happy with my results. This course was slightly longer (should I trust my Garmin over the course??) and with the heat I did well =) Yay!