Saturday morning I ran in a very last minute 2 mile race.  That’s right- 2 miles.  At any other time of the year a 2 mile race would probably sound like a sprint to me but I figured it couldn’t be any harder than racing one mile.  A few days before the race I got an email about it and before I dismissed it I thought I’d ask a couple running friends if they would want to make the drive to Benton, AR with me.  If no one else was interested I don’t know if I would have done it.  Benton is about an hour and fifteen minute drive from my house and I didn’t want to drag my whole family there for a 7:30 am race.  I knew waking up all the kids to leave around 5:15-5:30 would make for a rough Saturday.  We also had a big VBS carnival later Saturday morning and that was more important than me running in another race. 

My training buddy Jackie was up for the challenge so I checked with John who was all for me racing it- as long as he didn’t have to wake up early and take the kids.  Online registration was already closed but even on race day it was only $15.  What a deal!  (I should mention that this race was actually FREE to students 19 and under who pre-registered and only $7.50 for all adults who pre-registered.  You really cannot beat that anywhere these days.) 

So I picked up Jackie around 5:15 and we made it to Benton with enough time to register and warm-up.  There was a church right by the start that was open with plenty of restrooms for all the runners to use.  I was very glad that the race started at 7:30.  By this time it was already in the mid 70’s and humid! We did some strides and headed to the starting line.

Photo courtesy of Arkansas RRCA- David Meroney

Pacing Plan
To be honest I have not raced an all out two mile race since high school so… it’s been a while.  (17 years?!!)  My PR is from my senior year when I ran an 11:38 at a track meet.   I have run a similar time in several recent 5k’s for the first two miles and I guess technically my current 5K PR from last summer is faster at a 5:46 average.  Still, I really hoped I could beat my time of 11:38. 

Mile 1- 5:50.  I really had a hard time pacing this one.  In my mind I wanted to race it like a 5K.  A 5:50 felt very comfortable.  This split was slower than I would have liked but I felt strong and like I had plenty of gas in the tank to keep going.

Mile 2- 5:49.  Very consistent.  Again, I hoped it would be faster but this pace just felt right.

Total time:  11:43. (Garmin had it at 2.01). 

A few seconds shy of my PR but I really felt good.  I ran strong and consistent the entire race.  I think I could have raced another mile and it wouldn’t have been much slower.  I definitely felt like I paced this more like a 5K.  I would really like to race this distance again next year and push the envelope a little more.  My goal next time will be to break 11:30!

Results
I ended up finishing 2nd female.  Jackie came in right behind me in 12:25.  (First place was 10:53. She also set the female course record!)  Official Results can be found here.

After the awards we headed back home.  I made it to the VBS carnival around 10:30 am- just in time to meet John and the kids.  My older three went rock climbing and then we hit up a few bounce houses, snow cones and lemonade.  Good times!

My son (in the middle) made it to the top for the first time!

The girls starting to climb

We found some shade for the kids to eat their lunch!

Next up on the racing calendar…

The Fast Firecracker 5K- July 4th!

And after that? A few weeks downtime to hopefully heal this right heel!