I fell a little short of my goal of 1:29:30. Apparently, my speed from five years ago trumps my higher mileage now. But, I am encouraged and happy to see some progress. Week 13 post injury. 14 weeks to CIM. Here's hoping I have enough time to get to where I want to be. This weekend was like a college road trip with Jenny, Devra, Allie, and our token male Noah squeezing into Allie's Subaru and sharing a tiny hotel room. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Running friends are the best friends. Race morning: I was nervous about the weather with the downpour the night before, but we had perfect, cool, weather. I didn't sleep very well the night before, but that doesn't bother me too much. We warmed up two miles in the canyon, and soon we were off. I felt like I was immediately pushing really hard. That feeling never went away, but I wanted to stick with the leaders and use those downhills to my advantage. But, it felt tough. I was with Devra and Merilee Blackham all through the canyon. Merilee and Devra pulled away in mile 7. I admit to losing it a bit mentally at this point. My stomach was hurting, and six more miles seemed like forever. I wish I would have stuck closer. Once I was on my own, I settled a bit. Jenny is a hard closer so I knew I couldn't get too complacent. I woke up again at mile ten and mentally re-engaged. The most encouraging part of the race was feeling pretty strong still in the final miles. I used the men around me to keep charging on. The uphill mile from eleven to twelve was much stronger (for me) than in the past. I was able to find a final gear for the last downhill ( thank goodness!) mile. I finished in third at 1:19:38. Pretty decent progress over the last five weeks. Splits: 5:51, 5:57, 5:58, 5:59, 5:45, 5:46, 5:58, 6:15, 6:18, 6:13, 6:21, 6:40 ( uphill mile. fast for me!) 6:01, :39. It may have been smarter to run more conservatively, but I wanted to put myself in the hunt. The fitness is starting to catch up. 2 mile cooldown. Jenny shattered her pr with a 1:19:52! | 