Wow! My first "race" since my total knee replacement. I couldn't have asked for a better day. I decided the night prior I would do this race. I woke up early and rode my bike to the start line, just over 5 miles. I picked up my packet and then went for a walk to get the legs worked out and ready to "race".
I made my way over to the start line and lined up about half way back of the 1000 registered participants. The gun wen off and off I went for my first races since last October. I was want to finish in under and hour and stepped out on a pretty fast walk. About a 1/4 mile into it we hit the first hill which is pretty steep and relatively long. I felt great going up the hill passing everyone that took off at the start and couldn't run the entire way. I just kept chugging away with a purposeful walk.
I hit the first mile at just over a 13-minute pace and then we started heading back down. That was a little bit more difficult managing to go down a hill that steep. I had a few twinges in the knee and had to adjust my stride accordingly and had no issues after that going down the hill. I hit the second mile in 12:38. My first thought was that was fast and probably the fastest I have walked a mile yet, probably the downhill helped the pace. The remainder of the route was flat winding through downtown Fayetteville. I picked up the cadence a little bit and managed a fast mile in 12:30.
At this point I thought maybe I needed to slow down a bit, but the competitive personality kept me moving along. At this point I picked up a passenger that was running the entire way and she was just trying to stay with me. She couldn't figure out how I could walk that fast when she was running. I encouraged her the remainder of the way and when we made the final turn I told her to run with everything she had left. She pulled ahead and finished strong. I had another faster mile in 12:14. Not sure how I walked that fast but hey the watch doesn't lie.
I ended up walking 4.07 miles according to my Garmin at a 12:36 pace. The chip time had me finish in 51:16 at a 12:48 pace for 4 miles. Regardless which distance is accurate, I had a great time out there yesterday. Happy Training and racing everyone.
I made my way over to the start line and lined up about half way back of the 1000 registered participants. The gun wen off and off I went for my first races since last October. I was want to finish in under and hour and stepped out on a pretty fast walk. About a 1/4 mile into it we hit the first hill which is pretty steep and relatively long. I felt great going up the hill passing everyone that took off at the start and couldn't run the entire way. I just kept chugging away with a purposeful walk.
I hit the first mile at just over a 13-minute pace and then we started heading back down. That was a little bit more difficult managing to go down a hill that steep. I had a few twinges in the knee and had to adjust my stride accordingly and had no issues after that going down the hill. I hit the second mile in 12:38. My first thought was that was fast and probably the fastest I have walked a mile yet, probably the downhill helped the pace. The remainder of the route was flat winding through downtown Fayetteville. I picked up the cadence a little bit and managed a fast mile in 12:30.
At this point I thought maybe I needed to slow down a bit, but the competitive personality kept me moving along. At this point I picked up a passenger that was running the entire way and she was just trying to stay with me. She couldn't figure out how I could walk that fast when she was running. I encouraged her the remainder of the way and when we made the final turn I told her to run with everything she had left. She pulled ahead and finished strong. I had another faster mile in 12:14. Not sure how I walked that fast but hey the watch doesn't lie.
I ended up walking 4.07 miles according to my Garmin at a 12:36 pace. The chip time had me finish in 51:16 at a 12:48 pace for 4 miles. Regardless which distance is accurate, I had a great time out there yesterday. Happy Training and racing everyone.
