I Probably Should Make My Blog Public again

9 easy.  8:50 average.  It was raining, but I missed the worst of it.  Right after I was done a downpour started.  I was glad the skies didn't open up on me.

Approx. 2 miles to the track, where I was planning on doing my workout, but there was a track meet, so I just ran my 6 x 1/4 mile on the street.  My recovery varied in distance because I tried to make sure that I wasn't running full tilt into busy intersections.

I was fast on my 1/4 miles.  They were supposed to be at 10K pace, but they were a little under 5K pace (all between 1:40 and 1:47).  I tried to adjust my speed for the first 2, and then just went with what felt good.  

Then I ran about 2 miles home.

I mile at 8:50 pace and then I was warmed up sufficiently to get in 3 miles at HM pace (8:15, 7:42, 7:35).  Then I ran another 3 easy--all at about 8:45 pace.

I am mentally ready to race on Saturday.  I am physically ready to race.  My goal is to be between 7:45 and 8 min pace overall.  

I hope the weather cooperates.  Early in the week I heard driving rains and wind for the race, but now the forecast says slight chance of thunderstorms.  It is at least supposed to be warm (probably in the 50s at start time, maybe warming up more). 

I honestly have no idea what to wear.  Any suggestions?

My plan called for no run yesterday, and even though I didn't really need to take off, I did--mostly so I could finish my last paper for the semester (but my freedom is short-lived.  My summer semester starts next weekend).

I ran 3 easy this morning and I was either really slow, ran more than I thought, or left later than I thought.  I'm betting it was that I was really slow.  No garmin today.  Debating whether I should bring mine tomorrow.

The weather today was pretty nice (even though it was a little on the hot side).  No rain, about 10 mph winds, 75 degrees and sunny.  The wind was not a factor.  The heat might have been a little bit of a factor, but not too much.

My race was solid.  I didn't overrely on my garmin, but it does measure a little long (mine said I ran 13.23) so my mile splits are not exactly accurate.  According to my garmin, my splits were 8:16, 7:47, 7:51, 7:56, 7:52, 7:54, 8:02, 7:47, 7:54, 8:23 (argh), 8:03, 8:34 (double argh), 8:00 and then the end at 6:47 pace.  But of course, that's probably not exactly what my actual splits were, because at one point I hit the lap button at a mile marker (about 30 seconds off at that point, which I didn't put in my splits) just to see if maybe the weaving in and out of traffic added a little distance, but the next mile marker was still about 10-15 seconds after my garmin beeped.  And after my 13th mile split, it measured .15 instead of .11.

Mile 10 I stopped for about 30 seconds so that I could actually drink some water instead of just spilling it all over my face and I stopped at mile 12 to do the same, I think for about 30 seconds.  And that right there was the difference between meeting my goal and not. 

Live and learn.

Not gonna lie.  There's a part of me that's a little disappointed in my time. 

But I'm pretty happy that my run was consistent.  I know that I have to work on my endurance because the end was hard to maintain.  And I'm pretty sure that I needed the water, so I can't blame myself for wanting to drink.

And then my TMI for today:  as soon as I crossed the finish line, I got a sudden urge to pee.  It was a few seconds before I realized that I actually WAS peeing.  THAT has never happened to me.  I tried standing still and that helped.  I got to the bathroom a little too late, but I was able to hold most of it.  I just rinsed myself off and then went outside to find my people.  Gross.

I feel bad because I dropped my running partner like a hot potato at mile 6, but I'm glad I did.  He finished just under 2 hours.  My brother also ran through a knee injury.  He thought he would run/walk, but ended up running the whole thing, albeit slowly.

But there are some other things that I'm really excited about.  I was 15th in my age division.  I was in the top 2.7% of women overall (I was 92nd out of 3340).  So that's impressive.