"No one ever drowned in sweat."

We travelled to my in-laws for Easter weekend and since they don't have a treadmill, I ran outside.  I was nervous about my knee so I made sure to try to run on the opposite side of the road and keep a really slow and steady pace.  My average pace ended up being 9:34 on a relatively flat course.  

My knee seemed to hurt the worst on each uphill climb I encountered, but wasn't too bad going down, so maybe I'll survive the SL half.  I'm really discouraged about my knee.  I am still hoping for a sub 2 hour time and hope I can pull it off. 

I found out that my grandpa passed away this morning.  He was almost 90 years old and has had it pretty rough the past few years, so it's kind of a bittersweet thing.  My parents are flying in from Virginia for the funeral. It will be SO great to see them.  I haven't seen them in over a year! I hope with everything going on later this week and this weekend with the funeral that I will be able to find the time to get my miles in.  Wish me luck!

4.0 TM miles. First 2 miles at an avg. pace of 9:35, second 2 miles at 8:30.  My knee felt great today!  I think the stretching is really starting to help. Thanks Rachel for the advice!

4.5 TM miles this afternoon. First mile at 10:00 min/mile, miles 2-4.5 at a 9:13 min/mile. My knee felt pretty good.  I've got so much going on this week, so I hope that I can be prepared for Saturday.  Any advice on what I should do the rest of the week as well as race day? I really want to finish in under 2 hours, but I'm not sure how fast I should start out.  I looked at the elevation chart and it looks like the course is downhill miles 1-5 and from miles 5-10 there is a slight uphill and from miles 10-13 downhill.  If my knee feels good, I feel like I can maintain a 9:00 min/mile throughout.  

What a fun race! My brother and I rode downtown early this morning together and made sure we got to the starting line with about 10 minutes to spare.  There were SO many runners! We decided to stretch for a bit and line up toward the back.  I don't think we crossed the starting line until about 8 or 9 minutes after the clock started, but it was nice to start off with a slower, less crowded group.  I had to weave in and out of people for the first couple of miles to maintain my pace.  I was feeling GREAT the first 5-6 miles and didn't need to stop for a drink until mile 6.  My ITB wasn't bothering me too badly and I maintained between a 8:40 - 8:55 min/mile for those first 6 miles.  I was SO pumped!

I felt my legs starting to get pretty tired around mile 9 and started to feel myself slow down.  I still kept my pace below a 9:05 min/mile though.  I was on my way to a sub 2 hour PR!!! Then around 9.5 miles something happened to my knee and I felt horrible shooting pain from my hip to the side of my left knee. DANG ITB!!! I felt like cursing every step the last 3.5 miles.  I almost cried as I watched my average pace keep dropping.  I even had to walk a few times up the hill on State Street toward the end because the pain was SO unbearable.  So I'm kind of discouraged with my time and my knee and am trying to just be proud of myself for finishing.  I don't even think my Garmin time is completely accurate b/c I accidently hit the stop button with my arm while I was reaching to change a song on my Ipod.  I think I caught it soon after I heard it beep, but who knows.  

All in all, I'm trying to focus on those first 9 miles and how much fun I had.  It was such a beautiful day and a fun course.  It would be great if I could get my ITB feeling better and run it again next year to see how I do.