22,000+ women (and a few men) lined up to run the Nike Women's Marathon (and 1/2 marathon) yesterday. It is a fantastic event. Lots of pink, high pony tails and probably too much make-up for a running race but also a lot of great energy. Women tend to have pretty good representation at running races (compared to cycling and triathlon) but there is no race I have seen where their true personalities and confidence can be on display.
I am not sure if there is an intimidation factor at co-ed races or maybe it brings out a different type of runner, but we need more of these "women only" races to get the fire started for more women. It would be great to get more ladies off the elliptical and outside running.
My circle of athlete friends have no problem running a co-ed race of any kind but it appears many women do. And I hope more of these races can motivate them to sign up for another race soon. If you want baby steps into the co-ed racing world, I will see you at the Tinkerbell 1/2 Marathon in January at Disneyland.
My race yesterday unfolded without much incident. Since it is a women's race they do not want men near the front which is fine be me. Unfortunately there are too many non-sub 7 runners lined up in my corral, but then again, I went under the barriers to cut in line, so I guess I was a bit of a butt too. The start was about a quarter mile of dodging and weaving and sidewalk running to get some open tarmac but that was to be expected. The goal was to catch the lead women by the 5k mark and see what kind of pace they were running. After that, I would decide to push on ahead or let the ladies take the day, since it was, "their day".
It turns out the legs were feeling better than I expected and I reached the front in about 4 minutes and realized the pace was just a tad too slow, so I put in a pretty brisk mile to get out of sight and let their race unfold without me in the picture. At about 2 miles the pace car was with me and I called them back and told them to follow the race behind and just leave me to my run. They obliged and focused on there race that mattered.
For those who do not know the course it is by no means easy. The first 10k or so only sees a few brief hills but the over the next 4 miles you run up and over the Presidio and up and over Lands End by the Cliff House. This is where maybe 800 of the total 1000+ feet of elevation gain comes. Of course you get some downhills too, but they seem to never make up for the pain of those uphills.
My pace for the race as a whole felt pretty good. 5:56 average with a few fast ones early and a few slower miles later never put me too deep in the red and let me feel pretty solid crossing the line. 1:17:47 is a pretty good run for me on that course given my training. Thank you to the ladies on the course who cheered as we crossed paths. I know a guy running a ladies race is a tad lame, but I do it for my mom. This is her one big race of the year and we like doing it with her.
Mom busted out another impressive Nike Women's Half. With Jackson as a bad training partner she never got in many longer or harder runs, so seeing her spirit toward the finish line is inspiring.
Caroline put in an impressive run, dropping a few minutes from her summer time on a much harder course.
Kelly has been busier than ever (and that is saying a lot) with her new grad school schedule, so busting out a good run to kick off her Tinkerbell training is fantastic.
Dan ran a few minutes faster than he expected. If he can find some time to squeeze in a ride here and there as well as a few jump/hill intervals he can get back to his 1:35 pace no problem.
What is next? A recovery ride this evening. And back at the FRCC training plan. Add a few miles to get ready for the Malibu Marathon. Sub 2:50 is the goal.
