Disappointed. A little. Not what I wanted, but close. I am making progress, it is just agonizingly slow progress, but progress nonetheless. Fitness check reveals that aerobically I am doing pretty good but leg strength/leg fatigue is an issue. I think as my body gets more used to 60+ weeks and I get regular sub-7 paced tempos in this will improve. Although I am not going to do formal speedwork, I think occasional 1/2 mile bursts of sub-6 pace each week along with a once-weekly sub-7 tempo or short race will also help drive my "cruising" speed from 7:00 to somewhere sub-7. Ate a banana for breakfast, warmed up 1 mile slow and lined up. It was cold but not to0 cold so I ditched my sweatshirt, hat, and gloves 2 minutes before the race started and ran in shorts and a singlet. Splits are per garmin, I really need to learn to hit my lap button and go by mile markers but I am paranoid this will break my concentration. Per garmin I ran 10.08 and I believe this since the course was out and back on a bike path so you couldn't properly run tangents without plowing into someone for miles 3-7. The course is mostly flat with a handful of steep but very short rollers. I ran the first 5 miles more or less with two other gals, Tara and Margie. We talked a bit and they were super nice. I have met Margie before. At the turn around Tara took off and I tried to go with her but she dropped me. I dropped Margie in here too, but she finished only a minute behind me, and I finished a minute behind Tara. I did beat Lacy today by about a minute and I have never beat Lacy. She finished her 1/2 marathon 3 minutes faster than me and the marathon 14 minutes faster. I am officially a chase-pack runner locally. Maybe by next year I can work my way into the lead pack. :) Splits 6:50, 6:57, 6:58, 6:56, 6:59, 7:04(I could just kick myself),7:05(grrrrr), 7:06(noooo), 7:08(hang my head), 6:56(finish decent please) , .08 in 22 seconds if the garmin is to be believed. Take it or leave it I did kick pretty hard in the end and get a little puke-zoney so that is the only reason I am including this last little snippet in my report. Cooled down 1/2 mile, took my mom out to lunch for her birthday, went home, and then ran a 6.85 mile recovery run at 9:01 pace to break in my new Nikes and get 60 for the week. I got the shoes on sale and they actually feel really good on my feet.
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