OK, I accomplished what I set out to do. I erased my last 1/2 marathon time from my mind, and can now focus on this, a much better time! The first 7 miles of this 20K were uphill- more like a false flat - very gradual, but you could tell the second was going to be a lot faster.
I had fun -- just tucked in behind a couple people that were keeping a steady pace, and then at the turn around I refilled my water, which caused me to stop for a minute, then I picked it up again, and it felt good. Then I started feeling great at mile 7.5 and was passing people one by one until mile 11.5. I felt really, really good! At mile 11.5, I my last little cup of water, and gave myself permission to walk a couple steps (BAD MOVE- and never give yourself permission to do anything but run when you have less than 2 miles to go!!!) I think this stop was mentally not a good thing, and it got my body out of rhythm (did I spell this wrong?), and yeah, mentally, it felt bad seeing the people that were a step ahead of me, now 30 seconds up the road.
Anyway, there was a little uphill finish, which I enjoyed, and passed 2 more people on my way up to the finish. Overall a very enjoyable experience. Makes me think that I can actually improve if I keep it up. Good job, Jill!
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