More details later, we have been running crazy since the race. It was a huge PR from last year by 2:38 min! Makes me excited for the rest of the races this year.
So this was my 3rd time running this race. I ran it 2 years ago in 42:?? and then 38:48 last year. My goal was to break 38:00 min and try and finish in the top 10, and 1st in my age group. Well it looks like I did all of the above, and I am very excited that I had such a great race. I am a little mad that I had the opportunity to break 36:00 and that I didn't take advantage of it. I really need to pay more attention to my watch after the half way point of a race. I started out the race with Rich and I was glad that he was there the whole time. We started out in 4th and 5th place and we were able to hold those positions for the entire race. Carl H and his son were close to us for the first mile and then his son and another high school kid took off after that. Carl was in site for most of the race, but I really couldn't build up the courage to take off and try and catch him. Rich and I hung together the whole race until the last .2 and then I realized that I was close to breaking 36:00 so I took off and tried my hardest to get under but it was to late. 6:04 - This is a good uphill mile. You have to run out of the park on a narrow road so there is usually a lot of congestion. Some how we managed to get out in front so that helped a little with the uphill. There is a really steep hill right when you leave the park, that really bites. Rich and I are side by side and I told him that we needed to try and keep Carl with in site and that we would break 38:00.
5:44 - This mile has a slight drop for about .25 and then it flattens out with a slight uphill right before the mark. Spencer and #2 guy left us all in the dust after this mile. I was feeling good at this part and I was ready for the half way mark.
5:53 - I was happy to still be under 6:00 pace for this mile. There is another .1 drop on this mile, and then it flattens out for the rest of the race.
5:55 - I was glad that Rich was still with me during this mile. This is a long straight flat mile. I always struggle on this mile because it is so straight and flat, but having Rich there made it go by a little faster. I was amazed that this mile came in under 6:00, but I knew that there was still a lot race left.
6:02 - I was really wanting to get out of the River Bottom, this stretch is tough too. I don't know why, but it is a hard part of the race. There are some small rollers, but I think that it is more mental because you know that you are so close to the end. I remember seeing this mile come in over 6:00 and it kind of made me mad. I knew that I needed to run the last mile quicker so I was trying to prepare myself for the last mile. 6:02 - We finally came out of the River Bottoms, and I was so mad because the wind is usually at your back, but today it was blowing right back in our faces. This is a hot mile, the sun is hitting you and you are now running through houses and you actually run past the finish line and loop back around the park to finish. So that is not fun running past the finish, but there are usually a lot of people to cheer you on. 4:53 - This was my attempt at trying to get under 36:00, but I was about 1 mile to late. I had a really good kick, maybe to good. I was totally excited with my time, and I am so glad that I was able to watch Kellie PR and also Mike L PR. It was a great race, and I am already looking forward to next year.
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