~40F, light wind, raining. In a nutshell: I am overjoyed, amazed, absolutely thrilled. Thank you, Bonnie!!!! I did just what you advised. PR of over 3 minutes. :D Before the race: I kept my jacket on trying to stay dry for the warm up, an easy jog with some strides and a couple of hill sprints. Although I live less than a mile away, I brought the car to leave clothing and store different clothing if needed.
Mile 1 (8:28): A smallish crowd of about 400 runners, we took off down the first block, with a very slight decline, turning into a paved forested path. At this point I felt totally walled in with the bodies; there was no method for lining up and the whole field was scattered with walkers and runners of all speeds. A runner just in front of me tripped and nearly fell, flailing arms for about 4 yards. I broke through and took off a little too fast to get away from the mass of bodies. Had to rein myself in when I realized I was breathing far too hard (teensy glance at watch - 7:38 - yikes). We went a short way down the path, and then made a hairpin turn to come up the other side of the little wooded area - uphill. Emerging back onto the residential streets, the next few blocks were uphill, then flat, then uphill, then flat, finally flattening out for a stretch before the 1 mile marker. Mile 2 (8:41): This mile began with seeing my wonderful family by the side of the road as we passed near my house. Waved quickly and pressed on. Long downhill with some turns - at times too steep to be helpful or comfortable - then a long uphill, the worst on the course. Some time in here I was thinking, "Me no like." I never felt like my legs were having trouble (even now, they feel great), but my lungs burned and I never could quite exhale enough. I followed Bonnie's advice and didn't look at my watch, just tried to stay on the edge of what I could tolerate and paid attention to my form. Mile 3 (8:03) and last .1 (8:08): A big part of this mile was on another paved, forested path. Only one uphill stretch here, but some other challenges. A steep downhill on gravel, a sharp turn, some ice at the edges of the path, and one short, snow-covered bridge. When I knew there was only about .5 left to run, and I knew there were no more hills, I pumped my arms and just went as fast as I could maintain. Approaching the finish, I saw the clock and really could not believe it. Got a little teary even. Remained gasping for breath for at least a minute after the finish. Post race - I finally met Jeff! I got a wonderful little trophy and a Footzone gift certificate. You guys can now all say, "I told you so." I've earned that. I promise I will never burden you all with whiny predictions of doom again. (You can remind me of this if I forget.) I was not being falsely modest in my doubts this past week, I truly had no idea I could perform that well. I can't say I really enjoyed it - until it was over of course! It was extremely uncomfortable. And the AG award reflects the small, uncompetitive field that was racing. But I don't care. I just might have to sleep with the darn thing. I am so pleased and encouraged by this.
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