Watford 5-mile Race Report

I survived race day!  The day was a great one.

My brother came to my parent's house at 8am.  We still had to register for the race, so we wanted to get there before 9am when registration closed.  My husband and the baby came to the race as well.  I knew I would have to feed the baby before the race even started.  I guess that is all part of racing when you have an 8-week-old baby!

Registration was easy, and the line wasn't long.  The rain clouds had blown away, and I started to worry that I had overdressed for the race, with my 3/4 length tights!

Scott heading to the finish

Do my legs look tired?

We headed back to the car, where I fed Oliver and changed him.  My brother and I decided to take the bus to the race start instead of getting my husband to drive us.  The course is straight down one country road, with one right turn on to another country road.  The wind was getting crazy fast, so we were thankful it would be behind us in the final mile and a half!  When the bus dropped us off, the temperature dropped off as well, and it even started to rain a little.  My wardrobe choice wasn't too bad after all :)

Olly, Scott and I after a good race

The race was chip-timed, but only at the end.  We found a spot close to the starting line for that reason!  As we waited for the gun to go off, my brother and I decided to each run our own race, as we had different pace goals in mind.

The gun went, and off we went.  My goal was 8 minute miles, with a possible faster pace in the last mile.  It was so hard not to take off at a 6 minute/mile pace in the first few hundred meters, like everyone else around me.  I held back, as I have pacing goals to keep :)

The first mile came in at 7:57.  The second mile was 7:58.  Mile three: 7:58.  Mile four: (at the end of mile four I finally turned my back to the wind!) 7:57.  The last mile (including a steep incline over rail tracks) was 7:44.  Yay!  I did it!  I would like to thank my Garmin for keeping me in line.

My brother did well.  He came in ahead of me, of course, but then, he didn't just have a baby! ha ha.  Sorry, Scott, but I need excuses.

Here are the stats...

Chip time: 39:57

Avg. Pace: 8min/mile

Women: 8/163 

Age: 2/45 (30-44)

Overall: 33/290 finishers

It was so great to see my husband and Oliver at the finish line.  Thanks for cheering us on!

Happy Running