Hey friends! The “chase all the age group state records” tour is officially underway and I am happy to report that the first stop was a success. I got the Alabama 2 mile state record for 39 year old females on my 39th birthday! Running a race is definitely a fun way to celebrate a birthday (if you’re into that sort of thing).
The Satsuma 2 mile race is a relatively new event (this being the third year). The race is also referred to as Chicksuma, as it replaced the Chickasabogue Park 2 mile race. The Satsuma 2 miler takes place on the second Saturday in August, whereas the Chickasabogue Park 2 miler used to take place on the second Tuesday in August. The Satsuma races is a morning race, whereas Chickasabogue was an evening race. This is the only local 2 mile race that I am aware of and there is usually a pretty decent turnout. This year was no exception with over 250 runners!
The race is a bare bones, no frills race. Registration is $10 and if you want, you get to pick out a leftover tee-shirt from one of the club’s prior events. The awards are also leftover awards from prior events. The most important thing (to me, anyway) is that the course is certified, making it state record eligible!
My dad went with me to the race this year. We left my house around 5:30 a.m. to head to the race, which started at 7:30 a.m. I was later than I would’ve liked getting to the race last year (actually I’ve been late to the last several races that I’ve run (it’s almost like I’ve entirely forgotten what to do!)), so I wanted to have some wiggle room in the schedule this year. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the Satsuma Community Center, which meant that I had over an hour to register, go to the bathroom, warm up, go to the bathroom, do strides, go to the bathroom, etc. Ha!
We actually had very decent weather this year! Decent by August standards anyway. It was *only* 77°F with a dew point of 69°F! This is the first morning with a dew point in the sixties in months! Going into the race, my coach suggested fairly even splits in the 5:30-5:35 range, which felt a little too spicy in my opinion (especially given the conditions). I planned to run a tad more conservatively in the first mile and then hoped to pick it up in the second mile.
The course is an out and back with a couple 90 degree turns and a 180 degree turn at the turnaround. I remember not running the tangents very well last year, so that was on my mind this year. I lined up about one row back from the start line and prepared myself for the start line chaos that ensues after the gun goes off. Sure enough, I looked down about a tenth of a mile into the race and we were running 4:50 pace, which was way too fast!
After the first half mile, I was probably twentieth place overall. There was a big pack of guys in front of me (far more than I expected!) and I focused on chasing down as many as I could. I remember thinking that the effort felt totally doable. Unfortunately, I didn’t look at my watch again until probably three quarters of a mile into the race and was then surprised to see that we were running 5:50 pace, which was slower than I intended to be running. You really shouldn’t feel too comfortable at any point during a two mile race, so that should’ve been my sign. I made a conscious effort to pick up the pace at that point.
I came to the turnaround at mile one in 5:42. I knew that I could run faster in the second mile, which was a good feeling. The goal was to not “fly and die” in a two mile race. My best races are the ones where I run a tad more conservatively in the first half and pick it up in the second half. Apparently this strategy can serve you well whether you are running a two mile race or a marathon!
I had plenty of guys to chase down during the second mile and I believe I passed about 10 or so runners during that mile. I really picked it up in the last half mile of the race, passing a couple runners with less than a quarter mile to go only to get outsprinted at the line by one of the runners that I had passed. But hey, I can’t outsprint high school boys, so I did what I had to do to give myself a shot at better placement. My second mile was 5:35! I was very pleased with that.
I ended up with an additional 8 seconds of somehow not running the tangents well (even when actively trying to!) and my official time was 11:25. I finished 11th overall, 1st female and got the state record by 25 seconds! It was nice to go ahead and cross one of the records off of the list on the day I turned 39. One down, ten to go. Ha! I believe my next attempt will be the 5k distance and I’m planning to run that towards the end of September.
Talk to you guys soon!