Very very very HAPPY with this run. Had sooo much fun giggling, laughing, goofing off with my SSF (Teena), Kelli and Emily. Lowell treated us to dinner at Red Lobster Fri. night after picking up our packets. Nice little expo and l/s tech shirt this year.
Did not sleep a wink (I will not disclose the reasons for SSF's privacy sake) which is always a good sign for me. Saw so many bloggers and Flyers and friends before, during and after the race. I totally loved every minute of it. Thanked the volunteers, high fived the kids, even paced a 13 yr old boy the last couple miles. I passed people left and right the last 5K. I felt like I could have run another 5 miles in that pace.
I felt good the entire run. Just a little disappointed to find out that I was 13 seconds behind the 3rd place in my AG. Had I known.... Darn! taking 4th place AGAIN really STINKS! Nonetheless, I'm very HAPPY with my time, a 3 min. course PR. ******** OK, now I'm home. I want to post a few thoughts about this race: I had no goal going into this race other than to run it as a training run and hoping to get in some marathon pace miles (~9:05). The weather turned out not as bad as forecast. The morning was in the mid 30's w/ 100% humidity. The road was wet with a few VERY small puddles & muddy patches on the trail. I wore my neon yellow l/s Boston shirt, tights, gloves and hat, never had to use the sunglasses as the sky was overcast. Teena, Kelli, Emily and I lined up together. I predicted that Teena would go sub 1:40. I was hoping to hang with Kelli and Emily for as long as possible. My plan was to go out at around 9:15 and gradually pick it up.
Mile 1 ~ 8:52. Started out w/ Emily who's paced by Kelli at what I thought was a nice easy pace. When we hit the first mile marker, looking at our Garmins, Kelli said: "Hey, you're gonna PR". I replied: "oops! there goes my negative split plan". My warm up mile had never been sub-9. Was worried that I might crash and burn.
Mile 2 ~ 9:03. We saw some horses on the loose. Couple of friends passed us including Maynard and Peggy. Kelli wanted to get out of the congestion before getting on the trail, so she "made a path" for us to follow. Mile 3 ~ 8:41. Grabbed a gatorade, did a good job drinking on the run. I was able to weave in between the "herd" and picked up the pace going down the trail. This is where I dropped Kelli and Emily hoping they would catch me on the uphill. Mile 4 ~ 8:26. Took advantage of the gentle downgrade and breezed thru this mile. Mile 5 ~ 9:15. Uphill. Kept the effort steady, never got into wheeze zone, YAY! Mile 6 ~ 8:42. Really enjoying the run. Mile 7 ~ 8:48. Saw the top 8 men (many wearing FRB shirts including our very own Speedy Walter) coming on the opposite lane. Had so much fun cheering them. Mile 8 ~ 9:00. Shimelle caught up and gave me encouraging words before heading up the Bloomington neighborhood which had been my least favorite portion of the course. Took a Gu at the aid station and concentrated on keeping a relax and steady pace. Mile 9 ~ 9:09. In the past, I seemed to loose steam in the Bloomington loop. This year I kept my focus and am glad I didn't let the pace slipped too badly. Mile 10 ~ 8:28. Some kind folks set out a table spread of pretzels, gummy bears and candies...very tempting...only grabbed a cup of water. A girl from my Stake caught up to me and we visited a bit. When we reached the mile 10 marker, I said: only 5K to go, let's bring her in. With that I dropped her for good. Grabbed a gatorade before heading down to the trail. Mile 11 ~ 8:39. It was fun encouraging the oncoming runners at their mile 7. BeMo (Julie Ann) saw me and we hollerd at each other with happy delights. Mile 12 ~ 8:14. Concentrated on reeling in people feeling strong. Looking at my watch for the first time since mile 1, realized I could PR if I didn't cramp up like last year. A young boy wearing ski hat had been leap-frogging w/ me. I encouraged him to stay strong with me to the finish.
Mile 13 ~ 8:22. Passed lots of people feeling as fresh and good as I did at mile 3.
Sooo happy that they eliminated the hair-pin turn from last year. The finish was back to where it was couple years ago. Running across the bridge, up a little blip of dirt mount then down. Had to be careful not to slip on the mud at the bottom. Sprinted happily under the roaring cheer of friends (heard & saw Canyon/Marcie) towards the balloon arch with the clock ticking at 1:54:xx. NICE space blankets, SMALL medals, AWESOME post-race meetings and greetings w/ friends. So proud of SSF's course PR at 1:39:xx!!!
Lowell in his elements. Who's buying Oreo shakes?
Kelli, Emiy, Teena and Smooth at the post race party.
Had so much fun meeting/greeting friends at the Flyer's 5th year Anniversary/Cougar's 65th birthday party. Cougar is third from the left.
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