The Snake River Half Marathon is generally the first big
race of the year for those runners/triathletes living in Spokane. This
race is FLAT and FAST. The big challenge is avoiding the wind. It
gets really windy in this canyon so much that you really have to draft when the
winds are strong.
I drove down to this race with Jeremy we had some great
conversation. Once we arrived we saw all
the familiar faces. After a long winter
of training it is nice to have a race this early to see where you are at
athletically. I did my regular warming
up. I noticed there was a strong wind which
will affect us the first half of the race and be at our backs the second half.
Shortly after the start I looked at my watch and I was at
going at a 6:05 pace! I knew I couldn’t
hold this pace the entire race, but I looked ahead and saw a few of my age
group competitors in the pack ahead of me.
I knew if I wanted to finish close to them I had to stay with the pack I
figured they would eventually have to slow down. After the first mile we settled into a more
reasonable pace. We clipped off the
miles as the wind gusted against us.
Once we passed the half way mark I picked up my speed. Most of my age group competitors were now
behind me. I passed another competitor
around mile eleven but I didn’t know if there was anyone else behind me.
After the race I was pleasantly surprised that that I got 1st
in my age group! I finished in 1:26:15
with average pace of 6:35 which was a PR for me! What a great way to start the race season!
 |
| Pre-race with Nate, Natalie, Jeremy and Merissa |
No comments:
Post a Comment