Fun Race Weekend

Just home from my second day of racing this weekend. Saturday was the Fast & the Furriest 5K run at the vet school where I work, and Sunday was the Golden Springs Criterium. The 5K race was an absolute blast, as I borrowed "Muddy," my neighbors German Shorthaired Pointer. He's the dog in the picture in the last post, as this is the 2nd time I've run with him. He is the world's greatest running dog, as he removes at least 1 minute per mile off my best potential running pace without him! We started out in front, and in typical "Muddy" fashion, I was hanging with the lead men for the first 1/2 mile of the race. I wasn't sure how fast we were running, but I was a bit worried that I couldn't keep up Muddy's pace for long. He was strapped to my waist for maximum pulling potential : ). As the 1st 2 miles of the 5K were pancake flat or slightly downhill, I passed the 2 mile marker at 11:55!! With my current running fitness, I'm guessing my best possible pace without Muddy would be 7:00 miles. Fortunately, my left leg was still working for the most part at the 2 mile mark (I have this lack of blood supply issue to my left leg when I go hard) so we pushed it all the way to the end. I thought we were on track to break 20:00 for the 5K, but a look at my watch showed 20:42. Turns out the course was long, but by how much I wasn't sure...hopefully by about 43 seconds ; ).

Sunday was race number 2 for the weekend. I had 3 other teammates from Team Rio Grande in the women's open race and we had a great time. All 4 of us put in at least 1 attack in a field of about 30 women. First Trish attacked and then Kate and Erin launched a great attack with 2 laps to go and got off the front for nearly a full lap (longest breakaway of the race). When they were reeled in with less than 1 lap to go, I was poised to jump on the wheels of the Vitamin Cottage gals who were in the front and made the final push to the finish. They were a bit too strong for me, but I still managed to hang close to them and separate myself from most of the pack as we neared the finish line. In my typical slowtwich muscle fiber fashion, I lost a few more places in the final sprint and ended up 6th in a solid field of women racers. Overall, our team had an absolute blast and got in a great hard effort. We also did a post-race ride up Lookout Mountain which was absolutely gorgeous. A great Sunday!!