Super Jock ‘n’ Jill recap
So yesterday was the Super Jock ‘n’ Jill half marathon in Woodinville. Times still aren’t in (and my sister keeps reminding me that my blog is full of crap no one but me and my mom care about anyway and honestly I think I’m even pushing the limits of my mom’s patience if I write about race times so maybe that doesn’t matter anyway…) but there were a couple other interesting things about the run.
First, I think this was the first race I’ve run where I didn’t even think about trying to pace with the leaders at the start. I knew I’d start too strong and knew this would be a much longer run and I should focus on endurance. So out of the gates I went at what I thought was a comfortable pace (and still ran the first mile in 6:30, which is faster than I wanted) and just let people pass me. It was kind of difficult to get myself to do this because I’ve never run that way before and it’s not how I normally do things but I felt strong almost throughout the entire race and in the second half I was able to pick people ahead of me to target, catch, and pass all the way to the finish. In other races I’ve regularly run out of steam because my pacing has been way off and my endurance wanes but yesterday a lot of things were just on for me.
Speaking of the beginning of the race - during the first mile there was a girl who I swear said she was 9 years old pacing with a bunch of us! Evidently there’s a 4 mile race, too, that starts at the same time on the same route as the half marathon and she was doing that, but seriously - 9 years old and doing a 4 mile race? And starting at 6:30 miles?
Second, around the 4th or 5th mile a couple of us in the group started chatting, which was nice. A woman bicycled past us in the opposite direction and shouted “Good job, ladies!” so I glanced around at the people near me and realized of the eight of us or so, only one was a woman and we were all wondering who else she was calling “lady.” But some of us talked about our Labor Day weekends and one of the guys who’d been pacing with me remarked that if he got to the finish line and I was ahead of him he would be screaming since I’d climbed a mountain the day before. I left him about a half mile after that and didn’t see him again. My point isn’t “I rule” but that the psychological aspect of running is really a significant factor. Without conversations like that (or without starting out at a comfortable pace and convincing myself that I have the energy to keep going strong) I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have had a finish time I was as happy with.
Next - the course. There’s a comment on the course outline page saying it’s mostly flat with one climb to speak of. This is a lie. The course is mostly flat but there’s a series of climbs in the middle around Bothell and many of them are tough! Or maybe they aren’t that tough but if you don’t expect some climbing (I didn’t) you’ll be in for a surprise. Otherwise the day was just about perfect for running. It was cool and generally overcast.
Lastly - this was an incredibly great run to do with my running club, ChuckIt. At a lot of races I’m starting to see familiar faces but at this half I could almost count the people from the club who I didn’t see. There are a bunch of reasons why ChuckIt people are out on the course but there were definitely more of us at that race than normal races, which was really great. It’s super nice to cheer on your fellow runners and be cheered on by them, so that was a ton of fun.
OK, that’s about it for my rundown. I learned a lot and I hope I retained it because my next race is only going to be harder.