First off! Totally beat last years time by almost 5 minutes. That is the most important thing to me, I beat last years time!! That was my goal. Check! Merri and Larry ( he's the neighborhood rat boy... j/k!! ) met me at my house this morning at 5:45 and off we went to the race at Canyon View park near the mouth of S.F. canyon. It was WINDY & Chilly! We got ourselves all ready and out the car we went. Merri and I FIRST THING- ya, we pee in the bushes! ha! The porta-potties line was long. Merri got some poky stickers from a weed stuck in her shorts so that totally mixed things up. Merri and I headed to the very front of the start line and there we took hits of some cyto-max and hammer gels. I did my usual pump-jump up and down to warm my muscles. Things are feeling good. I had a good feeling about it all. Gun fires, race is off! Last thing I hear is: " see you at the end Lily". Poor Merri- she is a gifted runner, but she just had her baby 2 months ago. She will be back %100 soon enough- you know it! :)
Mile 1 7:06 Getting out of the narrow park road with all those people is always insane! Just doing my best here until we get out and on the uphill road. This hill is a beootch to climb. Pardon my french, but all would agree it kind of hurts! Mile 2 6:29 still a little uphill, then down, and this is where I kicked it. I passed many a peeps during this mile. I had no fatigue or anything from the hill. I was so glad. I saw TylerS from the blog coming down towards us. I gave a big smile and a wave and he in return. We missed you this year Tyler and Kellie!
Mile 3 6:38 still keeping a pretty good pace and feeling good. There is a small downhill and then flat. I tried my hardest to tear it up. Still passing peeps woohooo.... Mile 4 6:47 this is on river bottoms road and it kind of seems endless. It is mentally tough to get through this mile, every time. I don't know why. I just keep grinding and looking at my watch and try to stay below the 7 min thresh. I succeed! Mile 5 6:53 Mental toughness mile again. But I keep grinding and reminding: I know I can do this, I do it all the time. Keep going. Yes people, I pep talk myself ALL THE TIME. This is funny, on this mile I pass my ex-boyfriend from high school. Right next to him. And I think, haha in my head. :P Mile 6.2 7:00 pace- The most mentally tough mile of all. Legs say stop now, mind says no freaking way! Keep going. At these points, I always dig deep and listen to the music. Fast beats always carry me through. I feel so much better as I approach center street and see all the people. I hear lot's of shouts of my name. Turn some corners.....yes the finish! I see friends Julie, Adam and kids. Lot's of neighbors & other friends. And at the very end, 3 of my cute kids. I was so happy. I saw my time and I almost cried. I smashed my year before time by nearly 5 minutes. That is important to me.
Pictures! Not the best quality thanks to FRB capabilities ahemm...
This picture is funny. My eyes water when I run outside. Must be the breeze. So look close at my eyeballs if you can. I am doing the one-eyed blink. LOL!  Chit chatting with Merri Hackett, Rachel Gordon, Jen Hughes.  Where's Lily?  My face is just way to thin.  3 cute kiddos.  After I got to the car, I discovered some blood going on.  This is my 'baby'. Brooks.  I am not shy to admit I feel strong. :)  7th of 350. Can't complain. Looks closely at how competitive my age group is. 6 of the top 10 are 30-34.
 Results here if interested.
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