run race 17 [5] 0.1 km (2:50 / km)
Corporate Challenge 100m. (will edit official time, when results are published tomorrow)
I was nervous about this race, in a good competition way. But I didn't warm up as long as I wanted. Maybe there was fewer woman in the earlier heats (older women)? They called my age group sooner than I expected. In my haste, I forgot to put on my HR strap, so I don't know my ground contact time or vertical oscillation.
I had three goals: keep my head down longer at the start, lean more during the run, and pump my arms more.
Felt slow off the start, looked down, and when I finally got to the point of looking up, seemed like there were a lot of people very far ahead of me. I told myself to lean and pump, and I felt like I went a little bit faster, and I got closer to one woman. But overall, I didn't feel like I was pushing very hard, and I felt slow. I did hear several people calling out "go Mary" but since there were 3 Mary's in the heat, I'm not sure they were for me, but I took them to heart anyway :)
Pretty sure I finished 4th in my heat, the winner was 15 seconds flat. I was far behind her. No idea what was the official time, since I left before they posted results. Hope to make the top 10.
After the race, I still had tons of adrenaline flowing through my system. Took a long while to find my car in the parking lot, and my mind kept wandering. I made sure to focus hard on driving until I calmed down.
Overall, I feel neutral about this race. It wasn't great, but it was a good enough for the first race of the season.
UPDATE: Time was 17.197, which is decent for the beginning of the season. Finished 5th of 50 women in F50, which is my best placing yet. Nice to finish out the age group near the top. Can't wait to be a youngster in F55 next year!