I was a little nervous in that my training this month had been a little less than I would have liked. Between a sucky call weekend mid-month and endless sleet and snow my training miles were low. I was really surprised that the first few miles felt great. I offered to pace Lisa but was a little worried that I was too slow for her. I figured she could head off anytime though so I just stuck with my plan. First 5 easy, try to pick it up in the middle 5 and not walk the last 5K. The first 8 were great. We varied between run 4' walk 1' and run 9' walk 1'. I have to say we ran a few 9' intervals in order to escape some scary looking folks out there. I just didn't want to be doing CPR that morning! My tunes also helped, most had a bpm of 84-88 which kept my foot speed in the right place. The last 5K was hard. I did end up walking a few times but usually for only a few seconds. I figured it was a sign that I really had put out an honest effort. I just kept thinking SIUBC, you need to learn to run when you feel like this. In the end I lowered my time by 15 minutes from last year!

Keep training so I am a stronger runner. There really wasn't much I would have done differently. The race is very crowded for the first 3-4 miles but I don't think I would have gone much faster even it the crowds were less. I am happy with my results and I didn't have any injury issues like last year!

Met up with my SIL and friend Karen along with the earlier finishing BTers. It was great to hear them cheering at the end. Grabbed some fruit and a bagel at the very crowded expo. Back to Lisa's room (thanks again) to clean up and roll out the calves a bit. Then off the British Beer Company where the burger and Guinness is always a welcome reward.


I have been running consistently for the past 18 mos and figure I have made slow but steady progress. It's a journey and I am happy with my progress thus far.


List the finishing times by chip time PLEASE! If they expect folks to line up appropriately then knowing you won't have a finishing time/rank penalty for being in the back would help. I had a chip time faster than several folks listed as finishing before me. I know it seems silly but it does make a difference.