I wore my new running shorts and tank, both of which chaffed me. :(

I wanted to stop the whole way. It took all my mental powers to keep running. I couldn't play games or distract myself much. Instead, I just basically kept my eyes on my watch. At the first aid station, about a mile in, I didn't take any water. At the 5k turn around, I checked my watch and saw that I was on pace for my goal of 1:10, so I felt a bit relieved about that. Until then I had been keeping my pace slow to warm up a bit.

I ran my own race and didn't really pay much attention to the people around me. I chatted with several women, but I had no emotional investment in whether I passed them or they passed me. I saw the man with the triple stroller, and we passed each other back and forth on the hills.

My strategy was simple: push on the up-hills, recover on the down-hills, while trying to maintain an even pace. Interesting how bike training played a role in this. I found myself pushing "over the tops" of all the hills, which gave me more power on the down-hills for less effort.

All-in-all, I'm happy with my finish time. I beat my last-year's time by over 2 minutes.

Train more prior to the race. I had to take basically two weeks off before the race to rest my shin splits.

Went directly to port-o-let to let go of some extra fluid. :) Walked around a bit to catch my breath, got my t-shirt and wine glass, and a cup of water. Walked the mile or so back to the Jeep.


Training, or lack thereof.


I like the course and the free wine glass. Plus the fact that it benefits a school makes it a winner no matter how "low budget" it may be.