Man alive was this a gorgeous day! Just beautiful, not too cold not too warm, not windy, sunny... just perfect. Metroed to Ballston with my bike and biked about 2 miles to Bluemont park where the race started. Met up and chatted with some friends before the race which is always nice and relaxing. And off we went in the mud - then on the bike trail. It was a very hilly course and I realized I'm a very strong runner in hills, going up and down, and not that great on the flats. I went out too fast and did the first mile in 7:30, the second mile I slowed way down since my shins hurt, and the rest wasn't marked well. A bunch of people past me between miles 2 and 4, and then my shins started feeling better and the hills started, and I kept passing people both on the up and on the downhills. I don't think anyone past me after mile 4. I hit mile 6.1 at 51:00 and realized how out of shape I am... oh boy... but it was very hilly. I thought for a second that maybe I could break 1 hour, but at that point I thought a 12k was 7.2 miles - hey, that extra .2 miles counts! I sped up a bit the last .5 miles and finished on the muddy terrain again - a few minutes after my friend Brent, but ahead of the other 4 people I knew in the race. Not too bad! We all went to brunch to celebrate after, and then I biked home. Need to do strengthening exercises and stretch! Happy Sunday runners!
Official results are in: I was the 22nd woman out of 105, and the 93rd runner out of 219. As long as I'm on the top half, I'm happy! | 