On Saturday, I ran a 8k road race, which went great.  Weather was overcast with a light drizzle during much of the race with temps in the mid 50s.  (Was able to wear just a singlet and shorts for the first time in many weeks.)  The course was on asphalt roads (with one quarter mile or less stretch of dirt road with packed and loose gravel)--lots of up and down (but not steeply).

Didn't arrive in time for a warm-up.  Started in the back with a brother and sister who had run the trail race with me two weeks ago.  They were planning to run around a 10 minute/mile pace, which was what I expected to be able to run.  The road was rough on the feet for the first few minutes, so I tried to run down the center painted line which was smoother.

I pulled ahead from the brother and sister as my feet warmed up and settled into a 9:00 mile pace.  Continued to run on the painted line when I could but didn't have much trouble running on the regular asphalt surface when I needed to pass some runners.

Continued to run a steady pace, even with the side stitch I suffered through during the second mile--was regretting not staying with the brother and sister a little while longer.  At the three mile mark, I slowed to walk and drank a cup of water from the station.  Got passed by two guys who had been running behind me for the past couple of miles (the first time I'd been passed since mile one).  After the walking and drinking, I settled back into the 9:00 pace, just behind those two guys.

My side stitch disappeared, but the balls of my feet were starting to hurt, as the asphalt was getting rougher and wetter (from the drizzle).  During the last mile I increased my pace and caught up to one of the guys with a half-mile to go.  Ran and chatted with him for a couple of minutes until I decided I really wanted to catch the other guy before the finish, also.  Sped up a little.  With about a hundred yards to go, we turned off the main road onto a driveway into a local park.  The man was at least twenty yards ahead, so I sprinted as best as I was able (which was surprisingly well) and passed the man ten or twenty yards from the finish.

Finished officially in 44:50, with a watch time almost ten seconds faster.  About the best I could have expected.  No pictures of me finishing as my wife heard me say I expected to finish in 50:00 but did not hear me say that it was possible, though unlikely, I could finish in 45:00--so she wasn't ready to take photos.

As usual I ended with a couple of blisters on the ends of my toes (two toes on the right foot).  The balls of my feet were really sore yesterday and are still slightly sore this morning, so I'm taking another running rest day.

Here are the splits (with avg HR): Mile 1--9:00--163 / Mile 2--8:52--179 / Mile 3--9:06--181 / Mile 4--9:28--181 / Mile 4.97--8:18--185

Got more comments than usual during and after the race and had more people asking questions.  Several people asked if I'd started because I read "that book."

Also reached my 300th barefoot mile sometime during the race.

Do you know what your heart rate max is? Morning pulse? I’m impressed that you could conduct a conversation with your heart beating at 185 bpm.