2015 Fairfax Four Miler

Scroll all the way down to the end of the post for the tl;dr version.

Training

I ran the California International Marathon three and a half weeks ago.  I took two weeks off and then started training for the Boston Marathon.  I’m following the training plan in “Run Faster” by Brad Hudson and Matt Fitzgerald but with modifications.  This week, I did a 16 mile long run on Sunday, a 9 mile fartlek run on Tuesday, and a 12 mile progression run on Wednesday, which was the day before the race.  I thought about dropping the mileage a little but decided building mileage for my marathon training was more important than doing well at this race.

Goals

I didn’t really have a clear goal for this race.  I thought I was in good enough shape to beat my time from last year, which was 27:54 (6:59 pace).  But, of course, I always want a PR.  In this case,  my PR is only a few seconds faster – 27:48 (6:57 pace) from the 2010 Fairfax Four Miler.

The Course

The course is a loop through the George Mason University campus.  The terrain is rolling with long uphills and steep downhills.  There’s one water stop between the 2 and 2.5 mile mark.

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The Weather

Temperature: 50/47 at 5:50pm, 5o/46 at 6:50pm.  Winds were 7-9 mph out of the north.  I wore a singlet, shorts, and mittens.  I was pretty comfortable except I probably would have preferred light gloves instead of mittens.

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Pre-Race

The race was in the evening.  I started getting dressed at 4pm.  The temperatures looked pretty warm so I opted for a singlet and shorts.  Still, I thought I might want arm warmers and gloves, too.

I was carpooling with a friend and picked her up at 4:30pm.  I estimated it was a half hour drive.  Immediately, I realized in my haste to get to out the door, I forgot my arm warmers and gloves!  I hoped I wouldn’t be too cold – particularly before the race.  The drive to Fairfax went quickly.  I hadn’t downloaded the directions but I remembered the location pretty well.

We found parking and went to pick up our bibs and sweatshirts at the town hall.  My carpool friend went to use the facilities and I took a picture.

Bib pick up went very fast.  As we were walking back to the car, I realized I forgot to pick up my sweatshirt!  We walked back.  I got a shirt but she had to wait until after the race since she’d registered late.  (I registered that morning, so I was surprised I wasn’t told the same thing.  I suspect the volunteers may have been confused.  My friend ended up getting a shirt at the end of the race.)

We get ready in the car and at about 5:30pm.  My stomach gurgles a little and my friend asked if I was hungry.  I don’t want to eat this close to the race but guess maybe I should have had a bigger lunch.  It’s hard to know how much to eat before an evening race.

We jogged back to the starting area.  The area was pretty congested.  I thought this race is really getting popular.  We get in line for the port-a-potties again and warm up.  There are a lot of runners at the race.  I saw a lot of people I knew and could tell it was going to be a competitive race!

My friend and I did an out-and back from the starting line.  With about 10 minutes before the race start, I felt I was warmed-up enough.  We ran next to a fellow competitor we knew.  I was telling her how nice her singlet looked when I noticed…  I hadn’t put my bib on!  “Oh, @&*#!”

I panicked.  I don’t have enough time to go back to my car.  Did I come all the way out here for nothing?  I contemplated running the race without a bib but, ever the rule follower, I knew I wouldn’t do that.  So, I sprinted back to the car.  I contemplated Frogger-ing across the busy intersection but couldn’t get myself to do that either.  I got to the car, grab my bib, and sprint back to the start area.  I can’t believe I made it in time!

I elbowed my way back to the front with about 2 or 3 minutes to spare.  A woman noticed how flustered I was as I was pinning my bib on my singlet.  She said something like, “I’m going to let you get ahead of me.  You look serious.”  We both laughed and told her the whole story, ending with, “I can’t believe I made such a rookie mistake.”  Instead of moving up next to her, I went to the other side of the start area since I knew the first turn was on the right.  I tried to calm down.  I decided to run with music so I hit play early in hopes that the tunes would help me focus.  But now, I couldn’t help but wonder how much did that sprint back to the car might have cost me.

A woman led the crowd in singing the National Anthem and a few moments later, we’re off!

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The Race

The race started with a short climb up George Mason Boulevard.  I felt very light on my feet, though, despite the incline.  I thought maybe all the pre-race running did me good.  A lot of runners were passing me early on and I got the urge to pick up the pace.  But, I told myself that most of them are probably going out too hard and I should just find a comfortably hard pace instead of speeding up.  Pretty soon into the race, I felt a side stitch coming on.  I thought, “Great.  This is gonna be painful.”

Almost a mile into the race, the course went left for about a quarter mile onto University Drive.  Most of the course was on a wide roads, but there was a narrow section here that got a little congested but not bad.  Around this part, I noticed a few runners in red shirts with “Beef” on the back.  I wondered what that might be about.

The course went right and downhill before doing a short out and back on Patriot Circle.  I saw my speedier running friends ahead of me were running well.  After the turnaround, I hear someone shout my name but when I looked, I didn’t see anyone but guessed it was my carpool friend.  We made a right turn and the course went downhill for a good while.  I was cruising down the hill.  I tried to hold back a little by reminding myself this race is four miles, not two.

Just before mile two, the course turned right and then a subtle left.  After getting passed by so many runners in the beginning of the race, I was finally passing some people for a change.  At this point, the course started to climb, though, so I eased off the pace.  I felt pretty awful.  My side stitch was really starting to bother me now.  I started to fear that I went out too fast or that the sprint to my car took too much out of me.

Just before the 2.5 mile point and before the only water stop, the course went out-and-back on a side road.  As I ran past the water stop, I looked across the road to see how my competitors were doing.  I noticed a car driving onto the course right in front of my running friend!  The car only got a block down the road before an officer stopped the driver.  I thought she was probably going to be stuck there for a while since the pack was only going to get thicker.  I saw volunteers and police officers put additional obstructions on the side roads to prevent this from happening again.

I was running running pretty strong again.  I thought I had great leg turnover and I was almost bounding up the hills.  I knew my time from last year was roughly 7:00 pace but I just clocked a 7:20ish split.  I felt a little disappointed that I wouldn’t run a PR, but told myself to just run as well as I could.  There was a block or so where the road was pretty torn up, so I was careful to watch my footing, too.  I noticed two women in Boston participant shirts with identical pony tails just ahead of me.  I set my mind on passing them.  We went back and forth during the final mile.  In the meanwhile, I was also holding off a guy who would pass me but not so much that I couldn’t pass him back on the hills.  I was shocked.  I’m passing runners on hills?! 

The course mostly climbed for the next mile.  I checked my watch and it showed I was about 0.60 miles into the lap.  I decided to run as hard as I possibly could.  Plus, I knew the race ended with a generous downhill.  A quarter mile down the road, I feared I may have kicked too early as I felt a sickening surge in my stomach.  I ignored it and dug deeper.  I beat the Boston Twins.  I saw the clock at the finish line and I thought I was done.  But, I noticed the mats were a few feet beyond it so I couldn’t let up just yet.

Splits: 7:05, 6:51, 7:23, 7:01.

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Post Race

I finished the race and wanted to throw up.  I grab some water from a volunteer and then stand bent over trying to catch my breath.  I chatted with a fellow runner while I waited for my carpool buddy to finish the race.  After she finished, I met up with another friend and went inside for free pizza.  I took another trip to the car for warm clothes to wear while waiting for the awards ceremony.

Result

I finished in 28:19 (7:05 pace) – 25 seconds slower than last year.  I was 21st woman, 4th masters woman, and 3rd in my age group.

Epilogue

I think this race will be helpful for my interval workouts.  I tend to run them all out and then think, “Oh, my 5K pace has really improved!”  Now, I have a more realistic understanding of what my 5K and 10K paces should be for at least the beginning of this training cycle.

Abridged Version

I made it to the race site with plenty of time to spare.  However, 10 minutes before the race start, I realized I didn’t put my bib on!  I sprinted back to the car and back to retrieve my bib.  With about 3 minutes to spare, I was ready to run.  I ran the first two miles pretty hard despite a side stitch.  I eased off the pace during the third mile and then hammered the last.  My time was 28:19 (7:05 pace) – 25 seconds slower than last year’s race.  I was 21st woman, 4th masters woman, and 3rd in my age group.