Twilighters – Rockville and Crystal City
My summer racing season has come to an end. I ran two races at the end of July – the Rockville Twilighter 8K and the Crystal City Twilighter 5K.
Scroll all the way down to the end of the post for the tl;dr version.
Rockville Twilighter 8K
Training & Goals
I’ve been following a Hanson’s 10K program over the summer. With the exception of adding some races and increasing the mileage of some of the long runs, I followed it pretty closely.
The week before the race, I ran a 12 mile long run on Sunday, which is longer than the plan had, and a 10x100m workout on Tuesday. Other than that, all my mileage was easy.
Based on my training, I was thinking 35:00 (7:03 pace) might be possible. My PR for the distance is 33:48 (6:48 pace) at the Jingle All The Way 8K back in the fall of 2012. My course PR is 35:10 (7:05) from last year.
Last year, I forgot my Garmin and had to run by feel. I quickly found an article online about running by effort and did pretty well. I decided to adopt that approach again. Plus, with the heat (see below), I thought it probably wouldn’t be wise to set a time goal anyway.
The Course
The course is pretty flat. There’s one or two “climbs” but they’re not close to being “hills”. Most people wouldn’t even notice, but I have a finely tuned sense for inclines. There are two water stops. But perhaps the best part of the course are the the water showers and sprinklers that runners can go under to cool themselves down a little. There’s some crowd support in the beginning but otherwise, it’s mostly neighbors.
The Weather
Temperature/Dew Point (National Airport): 83/74 (157) at 8:50pm, 83/75 (160) at 9:50pm. Pretty hot and humid.
Pre-Race
I didn’t pre-register for the race – I usually don’t if I don’t think the race will fill. But in this case, I was also afraid the race might be cancelled due to the heat and threat of thunderstorms. A couple of years ago, it was cancelled due to a bad thunderstorm. But, maybe it wouldn’t this time. I guessed wrong back in June when I skipped Lawyers Have Heart to run the Crofton 10K.
The race wasn’t until 8:45pm and it’s hard for me to figure out when to eat and how much rest to get for an evening race. I went to a bridal shower earlier in the day where I ate a fair amount of food and a couple of glasses of champagne. Once I left the party, though, I drank a lot of water and I rested a bit. At about 4:30pm, I had a big bowl of spaghetti as may pre-race meal.
I left the house at around 7:15pm and got to the race site a little before 8pm. There was plenty of parking in the garage. I walked around the starting area:
And then registered. It was a breeze. I got another nap sack and a tech shirt:
I took the swag back to my bar and then hit the port-a-potties. They were great – no lines! I was shocked. I went a few times just because I had the luxury.
The Race
The course started on a fairly major road so I didn’t feel I was competing for running room. A lot of runners passed me at the start but I held myself back. I felt good.
The course went up and down for the next 2 miles and I found myself trading position with the same two or three female runners. I would pass them on the slight downhills, but they would pass me back on the uphills. Then, I started to worry that I was running too fast trying to keep up with them this early in the race. I didn’t check my Garmin. I just slowed down.
At about the 2.25 mile mark, I was back on the main drag. I sped up a little and left the “pack” I’d been running with for good. I ran along side this new group for a quarter mile or so.
The course turned right at the 3 mile mark. There was a water stop so I took a sip and doused myself with the rest. I felt a second wind coming and I set my mind on passing as many female runners as I could. I passed a few. But then, the course heads uphill and I decided to pull back a little.
At the four mile mark, I expected to feel a gentle downhill but I didn’t. at lest, nothing that could be used to generate any speed. I tried to keep my pace even. I even managed a pretty nice kick in the last quarter mile or so.
Splits (by course mile markers): 7:01, 7:36, 7:24, 7:19 and 7:13
Result
My time was 36:45 (7:24 pace). I was 34th woman overall, 9th place master woman, and 3rd in my age group. (A few weeks later, I got a gift card in the mail.)
The camera only got a picture of me after I crossed the finish line:
Post-Race
When I uploaded my splits I was disappointed with how I ran the race. I slowed down way too much in the middle. Why? All I could think of is that I lacked confidence. There was a period last year where I went out too hard in some races and flamed out but I thought I had put that behind me. Apparently not.
Crystal City 5K
Training & Goals
After the Rockville Twilighter, I didn’t run at all during the next three days. On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday; I managed 6-8 miles of easy running.
I went into the race hoping I could run the same pace that I ran at the Firecracker 5K – 6:52 pace. I was trying to remember if I’d ever done this race before to have a course PR and I saw I did. In 2010, I ran a 24:43 (7:56 pace). I remember that race and it was hot, humid, and miserable.
The Course
The course is completely flat. It’s a popular race, though, so the challenge is lining up properly and dealing with the conditions. The only real crowd support is at the start/finish line.
The Weather
Temperature/Dew Point (National Airport): 85/66 (151) at 7:50pm, 83/66 (149) at 8:50am. Winds were 10mph out of the S. Not bad.
Pre-Race
I spent the day resting. I thought maybe last week’s spaghetti lunch might have made me sluggish and perhaps I should try eating something else. Like just a sandwich. But, the lack of food stuffs for building sandwiches in my house led to pre-race spaghetti again.
The race is very close to my house. I left a little under an hour before race start. Luckily, race registration (I actually pre-registered for a change) was easy and the port-a-potty lines were short.
I like the shirt. We also got a glow stick:
I met up with a friend of mine who was also racing. We hung out together before the race but then split up so that we could corral ourselves correctly.
The Race
The crowd took off like a shot at the start. There was a lot of jostling, so I mostly decided to concentrate on the legs of the runner in front of me. I had put my glow stick around my neck at the start but it was bobbing up and down on my chest. So, I decided to hold it in my hand. I thought, “This is going to be annoying”. I felt like the pace was a little hard but I force myself to hold it.
The course went back on Crystal Drive and I’m feeling very good. I passed a lot of runners. I was running with music and combined with the glow stick in my hand, it was as if I was having my own dance party.
After the 2 mile mark, the course turned for home. I sensed a very slight uphill and very slight wind. For most people, I’m sure no change registered. I slowed a little and got passed by a woman in a white t-shirt. We go back and forth over the next half mile as I fight fatigue.
In the home stretch, the woman in the white t-shirt passed me again. I did a gut check and passed her again. I moved over to the far-right of the course to distance myself from her. I just wanted to run my own race now.
At the finish, I did some air pumps with my glow stick. The crowd got louder and I guessed someone was trying to out-kick me at the finish. I was right. I sped up a little and beat the runner at the end.
Splits (by Garmin): 6:43, 6:42, 7:08, and 0:59.
Result
My time was 21:35 (6:56 pace). I was 28th woman overall, 2nd place female master, and 1st in my age group.
Post-Race
I crossed the finish line and feel great. I took a water and headed back to the course to look for my friend. We hung out after the race for a few hours – redeeming our free beer tickets and talking with friends about the race.
Abridged version
I ran a disappointing 36:45 (7:24 pace) at the Rockville Twilighter 8K. I worried it would be cancelled since it was so hot and humid but the race was held. I ran a good first and last mile but was way too conservative in the middle. I had a better result at the Crystal City 5K – 21:35 (6:56 pace). I felt pretty good throughout. I faded a little at the 2.5 mile mark but got my energy back and finished strong.
All in all, I think I had a good summer. Not one of my best but I ran a lot even though it was hot, I’ve been nursing a hamstring issue since April, and my goal fall marathon isn’t until December.
Now, I’m a few days into marathon training. I’m very excited about running more. California, here I come!
