Leading up to this race, I had no goals whatsoever. This is because I was absolutely clueless about the outcome. I've now been running for 6 months after a 10 month layoff. While my mileage has gotten decent lately (45-50 mpw), 100% of that mileage has been REALLY slow. As a result, I had no idea how this race would turn out, and I was really nervous about that.
My gf also ran the race. When we registered, we decided not to run together, and to run our own race. There was plenty of good-natured trash talk over the past couple days. We did a 2 mile warm-up from her place to the start line. I felt pretty good going there, but still had no idea what to expect. We entered the starting chute but then separated... I knew that if we started side-by-side, we'd both go out way too fast.
The horn sounded, and off we went! In the first quarter mile, I could see my gf off to the left. I steadily pulled away from her. I couldn't slow down now! The weather was nasty. Cold, windy, light rain, and huge puddles everywhere. I was splashing through puddles, but didn't really care. At 1.5 miles I was already struggling. I tried not to think about the pain and just kept pushing on. But I already wanted the race to end, and that was NOT good.
After the first 2 miles I backed off the pace a bit, and settled into a comfortable rhythm. It was still a challenging pace, but something I felt confident that I could hold for the remainder of the race. With one mile to go I really started to dig, and was passing a lot of people. It's been a long time since I cranked out a strong last mile, and it felt truly amazing. That last mile, when you're running on fumes and the only thing driving you is some inexplicable force that enables you to keep pushing harder. I missed that feeling tremendously.
Mile 1- 7:14
Mile 2- 7:18
Mile 3- 7:30
Mile 4- 7:28
0.97- 6:34
FINISH- 36:07 (7:17 pace)
I have a lot to be thankful for this year. At the top of that list is running. There was a very low point in my life when I was convinced I'd never run again. I'm so grateful to be back at it. I know I have a long way to go before I'm even close to achieving some of my long-term running goals, but I think I'm on the right track. I'm looking forward to the road ahead.
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