Painter's Half Went to bed not knowing if I was going to run or not - woke up feeling pretty good. I was excited about not having the stomach turning and decided to just give it a shot. Warmed up a few miles in the freezing cold, stomach turned a little but I figured I would still work to get my goal time and see what happened. Went out pretty quick with Hobie (but not too quick - he is a smart experienced racer and knows what to do to run fast). He easily pulled away at about 1 1/2 miles. I let him go because I was hitting times about 15-20 seconds a mile faster than planned already and didn't need to kill myself early - 5:30's instead of 5:50-5:40. The problem was then I was hung out to dry. Hobie ran hard and hit a 1:07, 3rd place ended up a few minutes behind me, so there I was. Kept running hard, despite the desire to slow down and give into the IDEA that I had been sick (I was proud of myself for that). Was still on pace for my 1:12 until the Bloomington loop. On these miles (8-11) I could feel the lack of energy in my body and my legs really tightened up. My stomach also started churning and I wondered if I was going to lose it. Luckily no. Cold I don't think was too much of an issue - more the depletion of fuels my flu had taken from me. At this point I was planning on hitting 5:20's, but I actually only needed to hit 5:30's because of the stronger first miles. I couldn't go, however, and no matter how much I pushed I was still only hitting high 5:50's (but nothing into the 6:00's - so a small victory). Back on the trail I finished at the same 5:50's pace for the last 2. I kept pushing even though I had lost my 1:12 I could still get a PR and under 1:15 which would be pleasing. Ended up 2nd a very distant 2nd to Hobie, but I was happy about the race under the circumstances. Now to keep recovering and get ready for Boston. Time 1:14:42 a 5:42 mile ave. To cool down, I ran back down the race a mile and helped Ruth finish - but she didn't need it. She was flying and caught the 2nd woman to finish 2nd woman overall and a time of 1:30 (very good for a high school girl). I think this has provided a very strong base for her track season this year. W-149 RHR-43 (15.1 miles were in Ohana Racers - 2 in NB's)
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