The distance was beyond my current fitness level, but I wanted to do this race for tradition since I've done it the last two years.
I started at the very back since I had been waiting in line at the start for a potty, so I got to pass people almost the whole way. It was neat for the first couple of miles to be able to see the big mass of people down the hill ahead of me - it reminded me of when I did the Country Music Half-Marathon and could see a sea of people filling the street. A little way in I saw someone wearing a "The Quiet Pirate" sign on her back, so I ran up to her and asked if she was The Quiet Pirate. It turns out it was bye-wing, and she said that RAD was ahead with the same sign. So I looked for RAD for the rest of the race, but she was way too speedy for me to catch. I loved the idea of signs, though - I vote we all wear FRB signs at all of our races so that we can meet each other. I liked when the motorcycle escorts and the lying-down-bike guy passed. It made me want to be at the head of a race with a motorcycle escort someday. Maybe after I'm done childbearing I can find a race that's big enough to have motorcycles but small enough that it doesn't attract people who are fast. Or men. Because they only have motorcycles for the lead, right? Not for the male and female leads? Since a 10K is out of my current range, I was really only happy for the first 4 miles. Then I wanted to quit (the race and running in general). My feet were killing me, and my legs were about out. But it was about when the race joins up with the parade route, and I felt all sorts of social pressure to not walk in front of the parade-watchers. And I tried to think of Elliott and how I want to set an example of not quitting for her. I can't say enough about how much I don't like that 200 E stretch, though, and the bit up toward the park is worse. Even when I'm in shape I hate it.
I did have a kind-of goal to beat my 2009 time (55:32). I was pretty much just in "finish" mode, but I thought that since I was faster in 2010 I'd be a little faster now even though I pretty much took the last 6 months off. But I didn't make it. Based on my splits and how I felt, though, I'm pretty positive that I would have been at least a few minutes faster if I had run just a little more in the last couple of weeks. Gosh - how many times do I need to learn the consistency lesson? I wrote in my last year's race report that it was interesting to see how different I felt in 2010 compared to 2009. I was *so* sad at the race in 2009 - I had just left all my friends in Pennsylvania, and I felt really alone. One of the things that made me cry (I cried every day for at least a week after I moved (I'm not good with change)) was seeing all the people waiting for people at the finish line. I specifically remember a woman finishing and running over to her man-partner and baby. I thought it was really neat that they had been waiting for her. At the race in 2010 I was super happy to be with Eric and stuff. And even though I felt like crap (and stupid for doing too much), the end today was the best so far. Splits: 8:33, 8:11, 9:05, 9:07, 9:37, 10:14, 10:54 (0.2) (Last year's splits: 6:28, 6:31, 7:20, 7:16, 7:10, 7:29, 7:32 (0.2)) | 
