Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Ashley's River City Run



STC's Ashley Stanley put up a impressive time at this weekend's Richmond Marathon. She endured freezing temps, and intense cramps on the way to the finish. Ashley is a fantastic athlete, progressing quickly toward a Boston Qualifying time. Her race report is below.

Official results

Richmond Marathon:

I woke up on a very chilly Saturday (31 degrees at the start) feeling strong and ready to race regardless of the frigid temps.  I layered well, with plenty of break-away clothing and took my place in Corral 1 for the start.  My freezing cold muscles forced me to keep my pace in check for about the first mile, where my legs sort-of warmed up and I fell into a nice stride.  I felt great!  Keeping pace as I had trained I hit the 10k mark at 49:57, the half at 1:47:01, the 20k at 2:47:03 still feeling as good as you can after running 20 miles.  Then at mile 21 the cramps started...charlie horse's all over my legs at different times quads, calves, and my least favorite my feet.  I would stop give the cramp the "Larry Punch" a couple of times, it would go away, I'd start running again and BAM!  A new cramp different spot.  I probably resembled a female version of Joe Cocker for the last 5.2 miles.  Even though I did not reach my goal I'm not terribly disappointed with my race.  I finished in 3:47:09 number 847 out of 7032 racers.  I feel confident that with work and proper adjustments in my training and nutrition plan I will reach my goal and qualify for Boston. 

Here's to the next race...Shamrock maybe?

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