Sunday, October 30, 2005

Dawg Dash

Francesca and I met up with Mike, Alexandra, Christina, Rod, and Jen near Husky Stadium before the Dawg Dash. This is a fun run on a fairly technical course (hills, lots of turns, stairs, a 10K course that partially overlapped the 5K course, plus it is baby stroller and dog legal) so it isn't the best choice for trying to set a PR. But I thought, what the heck, lets push the pace and see how well I can do. After all, I came all this way! ;)

I'd like to get to a 22:30 5K and a 45:00 10K eventually, so I was very pleased with the 45:45 I ran (so far the times are unofficial). I picked it up as hard as I could for the final stretch, which was on the track in Husky Stadium. Francesca and Christina saw me at the end, but I was so out of breath I couldn't even respond, for fear of nausea! After catching my breath I met them along the finish chute.

My footpad measured the course as 6.17 miles, so once again I am impressed with the accuracy. The footpod was 0.48% off, and that is assuming the course is accurately measured (I have my doubts it is THAT accurate since the course changes slightly every year). My mile times were:

  • Mile 1 - 7:49 (lots of traffic to weave around)
  • Mile 2 - 7:38 (up some stairs)
  • Mile 3 - 7:21 (pushed it up a hill)
  • Mile 4 - 8:02 (wound around the library, another hill)
  • Mile 5 - 6:56 (nice downhill!)
  • Mile 6 - 6:50 (mostly flat so I picked it up as best I could)
  • Mile 0.2 - 1:12 (going as hard as I could)


Miles 3 and 4 were the tough part of the course. They encompassed a hill, downhill, gradual climb and an aid station (where I stopped just briefly for a sip of water), a portion near the library with a few stairs and turns, and another hill. After that, we were near the high point of the course so it was mostly descents or flat back to the finish. It was a great race for me and I am confident I'll be able to hit my goal of a 45 min 10K soon. As it happens, this is my 10K PR so I am doubly pleased.

Afterwards, we gathered at Francesca's for delicious waffles, fruit, chatting and hanging out. It was a great morning!

Fellow Dawg Dashers

Christina, Mike, Alexandra, Francesca

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