Since I was just trying to see what my legs were capable of today, I didn't choose a pace for this race. I just started running and settled into a pace that felt comfortable. I wanted to keep the pace a bit slower than I really felt I could manage because I knew the course was supposed to be hilly (and I don't run a lot of hills in my training).

My toe that I hurt on last weeks 20 miler hurt during the first mile of the race. I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to finish. But it stopped hurting and didn't bother me anymore during the race or after.

I actually liked most of the course and felt strong until the last 3 miles. I was a bit concerned about running in Umstead Park because I run on trails even less than I run hills (ie - NEVER). But I loved the Umstead Park section of the race. I wish we had a park like that down here in Fayetteville.

I noticed in the first 3 miles of the race that we were running downhill a lot and I knew I would have to climb those hills coming back. But I had no idea how much harder they were going to be to climb back up when I was running down!!:) The last 3 miles of the race felt like it was all uphill. It wasn't - but it was close. One hill in particular was really bad. I got halfway up the hill and felt like my lungs were closing up (I couldn't breathe). I didn't give in and walk though, I just slowed my pace a bit and kept going. Luckily we had a bit of a downhill to catch my breath before we had to tackle another hill. After I felt like I had been climbing forever, I saw a man ahead of me walking. When I got up beside him, he began to run again. At the top of this hill the photographer was taking our picture. Just as the picture was being taken, the man was passing me. We got to the top of the hill and turned a corner - and saw ANOTHER hill!! The man took one look at it and said "Oh sh*t!" and starting walking again. I left him at that corner and continued. A volunteer then told us this was the last hill. What he didn't tell us was that the hill lasted all the way to the finish line!!!



Nothing really. I went into this race to see how my legs would take racing. That was accomplished. If I had wanted a PR though, I definitely would have done some hill training for this race. However, considering I don't run a lot of hills in training, I thought I did very well with these hills. I never stopped running on any of them and I even passed quite a few people on the hills.

There was no warm-down - just try to stay warm! It was still 41* when we finished running. And the finish line was .75 miles from the start line (and my car). I was in shorts and a single long sleeve shirt (I felt warm during the race, but once I stopped running I got cold). They offered a shuttle service to the start line, so I jumped on the bus. As soon as I got back to IOS, I went to my car and got my sweats. I put those on and walked to the store where they had the food set out. I grab a biscuit and a banana. I ate those while trying not to freeze to death. Then I went into the store and bought a couple of tires for my tri bike (I can't get 650 tires in Fayetteville). By the time I walked back out of the store, they had posted some of the results. I saw that I had finished 4th in my AG. I went back to the car, cranked up the heat and drove the 1.5 hours back home to get a shower!


Compartment Syndrome surgery on both legs 3 months earlier.