So this is the first non-5k that I've run more than once. I was interested to see what sort of improvement I would see over last years race, which until today was my HM PR (1:45). Going into today my A goal, as Jeff Shadley likes to say, was 1:38 and my B goal was anything sub-1:40.
I dragged myself out of bed about 6:30AM and took way too much time getting ready. Not sure what I was thinking b/c the race started at 730AM and is clear on the other side of the Valley at Boise Hawks (Cubs Single A farm club) Stadium. I left the house at 7:05 and had to drive like a demon to make it there by 720, warmup and hit the starting line.
Lots of runners this year, 200-250, so the start was a little frantic and crowded once the runners funneled onto the relatively narrow greenbelt along the Boise River. One guy actually lost his shoe and stopped right in the middle of the mass of humanity. I heard some lady yell, "Dear Lord!" and watched her run smack into the guy, luckily I just barely grazed her but I can't be sure that someone behind me didn't smoke them.
I settled into a nice comfortable pace early, passing maybe 10 people between the first and second mile. After that, I got in behind a girl that seemed to be running my pace and followed her until mile 11. We leapfrogged each other a couple of time before that and then I turned it on. I don't have any splits b/c my Garmin crapped out, AGAIN! Don't know what's up w/ that thing b/c it read "Battery Charging is Complete" when I left home. I do know that I picked it up after mile 11 and held a much faster, for me, pace the last 3/4 mile to hold off that girl that I had followed and sneak in under 1:38, just barely, as I crossed home plate. This makes me think that MAYBE I could have run faster had I pushed it a littlle earlier. No complaints though. I've now run a 5k, 10k, 2 Halfs, and Marathon this year and established PR's in all but the 10k and the other Half (both were trail runs w/ a LOT of elevation gain). | 