Notes
LOVED this race, will definitely do this again! it was wonderful
i had a rough week, so i thought i would try three miles at 9:30 and then work my way down if i felt able. when we started it was a group start with the 5K runners and half runners, I bet there were under 75 people total, and probably only 25 people running the half. It was small! but it was lovely. Once the 5K runners made the turn and it was just a few of us left I had three people ahead of me. One girl, one guy and one really old guy (he even got a mention in the announcements to start the race, he was 81!! ) the old guy slowly just pulled away. the guy and the girl were ahead of me by quite a bit but i thought if i was smart i would be able to catch them by the end of the run. I felt like i was the last runner because there was a huge gap between me the next runners. I ran pretty easy for about five miles, i was worried about wearing out since I hadn't run 13 miles in over two months. I felt good though even though i was running much faster than i had planned. I thought if i kept it to 9:10-9:15 i would be able to finish strong. I left my gloves with a water station and then we made the turn between miles six and seven
the way out how been mostly uphill, gentle hills though, it didn't feel like a big deal. I did take a gel that was offered about mile five. around mile six the girl passed the guy. at mile seven i passed him too. then we were headed downhill for the return trip. it was all country roads, some gravel and some paved, lots of horses and cows! at mile eight we were headed straight south and the wind was right in my face, it wasn't pleasant but not horrible. i noticed the girl started touching her side....i knew i had her, i could tell she was getting side stitches. right before mile ten we turned out of the wind and started a long slow climb, maybe a mile and a half uphill. very gentle. i passed the girl as soon as we started climbing. i noticed then that there was a group of three runners ahead of me, and i was feeling pretty good, so i kept the pace up as i climbed the hill and caught them too, and then passed them. the last mile and a half to the school track and i saw the old guy ahead of me!
i started running then, i knew i could catch him. he was running stead but definitely not picking it up for a fast finish. we were about a quarter mile from the school and i caught him and sprinted home. we had to do one lap around the track and i gave it all i had left. i was pretty proud of my effort today. it couldn't have gone better. this was one of the best paced races i have ever run.