Last Saturday (December 15, 2007) in the Druid Hill Park area of Baltimore City, Maryland, I got to run in the Celtic Solstice Five-Mile Run. The reason I capitalized 'ICE' in 'Solstice' in the title of this entry was because it was quite cold out (however, it could have been much worse, since I heard in previous years it was more windy and a couple of years back there was snow/ice on the course). I came to this race expecting that I could get a decent ways under 34 minutes for 5 miles, but instead I pleasantly surprised myself and ran much better than that!
The starting line was packed (apparently there were over 1,900 finishers in this race). I started toward the back of the front/front of the middle I'd say. Either way, there was about a ten-second difference between my clock time and my chip time, meaning it took me ten seconds after the race started to reach the starting line because I was a good ways back in the pack.
But that was all right, I think it helped me to get out to a fairly conservative start...
... Or so I thought...
I went through the first mile in 6:07, much faster than I expected (breaking 34 minutes in 5 miles involves running just under 6:48-per-mile I think, so there was no reason for me to be starting out that fast for just trying to run under 34 minutes). However, I felt really strong too, so I decided to press on and see what happened, yet try to hold back a little bit. Well, I ended up going through two miles in about 11:51. However, after the race myself and others thought that that second mile was a bit short, or that the marker was just misplaced, because I don't think I could run 5:44 that second mile from a 6:07 one mile to get me 11:51 for two miles (I don't think I've run under a six-minute mile in quite a few months). Also, I went through 3 miles in about 18:51, meaning that if the second mile was accurate, my third mile was seven minutes, and I really felt like I was moving a lot faster than that! I was grateful too that I was on pace to have my 5 kilometer (approximately 3.1-mile split be well under 20 minutes, my second sub-20 5K this month and since my off-season earlier this fall :). This was nice, because we were about to go around the Druid Hill Park Lake (as pictured in many of the photos above). However, it was right around here I began to cramp up around my right foot, an area that was giving me problems in some of my runs and races last September before I took some time off. I decided to slow up a bit because I was not really ambitious to get that good of a time, especially if I was going to hurt myself. I still need to build up my miles-per-week and do some speedwork/tempo runs before I consider racing to get really strong times/personal best times.
After I slowed up a bit, a lot of people I passed in the past few miles came back and passed me. I sorta had mixed feelings about that, but I knew that if I tried to pick it up and go with them, I would probably hurt myself more and end up seriously injured and fortunate enough just to LIMP to the finish line. So, I stopped and put my hand on a parked car and rolled out my right ankle for about several seconds, and then slowly started running again. I felt a little better after stopping, but it was still bothering me.
I was fortunate enough to pass through the four mile mark in about 27:37, meaning that there was maybe some small hope I could actually break thirty-two minutes. I felt like I kept my form strong throughout this last mile. Towards the end, the course went downhill and then flattened out for a little less than a hundred meters before reaching the finish line, and once I reached this downhill portion, my foot started to feel a little better.
However, a lot of runners caught up to me on this downhill portion and started to pass me. Call me a sissy, but right now I just don't run downhills too aggresively, because I feel like I've rolled my ankles too many times and I felt like my right foot was not in the healthiest shape. Though, I heard someone (who ended up being one of my buddies I've seen at quite a few of the races throughout Maryland this year) cheer for one of their friends, "c'mon Sheryl, you only have a hundred meters to go!!! And I knew I must be close, and with that I put on one of my strongest kicks I've had in a long time towards the bottom of the hill, and surged past just about everyone who passed me on that last downhill, and praise the Good Lord I ran about 31:50 for my clock time, and 31:40 for my chip time, faster times than I've run for a good many of my 8K/5-Mile runs this year. Not too bad considering I've been back at this consistent running thing for about a month now. That's about a 6:20-per-mile pace and certainly much faster than I was expecting to turn out.
The course was pretty much out and back. That steep downhill towards the end you have to run up at the start, but after that, the hills are gently-to-moderately rolling, and going around the Druid Hill Park Lake is pretty much flat all around! I could see myself running much stronger times and personal best times on a course like this with the competition that was there, after some more quality and healthy training! Having a downhill finish was nice, my last mile was about 6:03 and my first mile was about 6:07. So I could also say that my last mile ended up being faster than my first!
I hope to do this race again in the future... Oh yea, the photo above of the runners starting the race is from the Washington Running Report (http://www.runWashington.com) It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed seeing people I knew from college there, as well as runners I've seen in Carroll, Howard, Montgomery, and Anne Arundel Counties (just to name a few) and even some from the Maryland Eastern Shore. I am glad I got to see a lot of my running friends and buddies before Christmas and the other holidays!
Also, not to brag, I am happy for the Howard County Striders, one of the running clubs I belong too, because we won the team competition at this race! There were a good many other running clubs here too, bringing some great competition with them!!!
This was also a neat way to celebrate my three-month anniversary from finishing out my quest of running in a running event in all of Maryland's counties within the year of 2007! On Saturday, September 15, I finished third in the North Beach 5K in Calvert County, Maryland, the last county I had yet to run in a running event in! I just thought that was worth mentioning to anyone who was interested in reading!
Thank you for reading!
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