I started out wondering how my right knee would feel since it was really aggravated on Thursday, but I really wanted to race this one to see what I could do. I planned to give it all that I had unless it was clear that I was injured. I would love a PR, but I was going to be happy with any finish time between 1:51:00 and 2:00:00, considering how the week went. I started out with a strong pace but a comfortable effort level, my HR in the low 150's, and my breathing easy. It took about a mile for the crowd to break up enough to have comfortable running room. This usually makes me impatient, but I tried to remind myself to let it help me keep from starting out too fast. Around 12 minutes, I realized I had not started my usual walk breaks. I didn't feel like I need to stop, but I remembered what Sam said about the hills at the end being a lot tougher than they looked. I decided to compromise w/ :30 walks every 10 min. or so, or whenever I hit the next hill after a 10 min. interval, and figured I could put it in the bank for the hills at the end. This definitely helped to refresh my legs and made me feel stronger when I restarted. I noticed that my pace was consistently under 8:00, so I hoped that I was not overdoing it in the first half, but we were going downhill a lot and my HR was much lower than what I thought I could sustain, so I figured I was okay. I hit a mat at around the 10K mark at about 0:50 and change. I also waited a bit longer than usual for my gel, but I had been sipping my sports drink. I took water at two water stations and used the gel somewhere after the halfway point. We were still going down hill up until about mile 8 so I figured we were really in for it coming home. I hit the 10 mile marker at 1:04 and change - very happy with that! Then we started up hill. There was an awesome rockin' band at the top so I motivated and thought - "Here we go. Now it's time to go to the bank!" Well, it turned out to be a warm-up hill, so I settled back into my cruise pace and took one more uphill walk break to prep for the final 5K. Then the real hills started - right at the hospital ER - how ironic!!! I started to power up and felt really strong. I was passing lots of people and chugging along pretty steadily. For the first time so far, I started to breathe hard. I kept reminding myself of the mountain in Roanoke, and in comparison, this was a fairly short climb. I figured I might need to walk at the top, but I felt great, and recovered to my easy breathing before I turned the next corner away from the hospital, so I kept going. After another pretty short cruise, we started another climb to the bridge over 95. I still felt like I had plenty, so I dug in and started passing people again. It gave me strength to hear another runner (must have been a super fast woman) who was cheering us on from the sidelines and saying "Last hill to go - almost there!" Once we got to the top and passed the 12 mile marker, that was it. I figured I had nothing left to lose, and could hold onto a hard effort to the finish line. I accelerated and passed a few more people. I started to think that it was possible to finish under 1:45. I kept looking for the next woman (not many around at that point) and trying to gain ground. I was pretty much dying in the stretch to the finish line, but I just kept my head up and fixed my eyes on the arches. I didn't quite make the 1:45 mark, but 1:46:34 was just fine! I was thrilled with how good I felt after the finish - not hurting and not exhausted.

I just need to continue to build my strength and endurance with longer tempo runs and mile repeats. I was thrilled with my time here, but when I finish feeling so good, I always wonder if I had a little more that I could have left on the course

I walked a bit, got a bottle of water, ate half a bagel and half of a banana. Then I checked in with Charles, signed up for a massage, did some light stretching, and got a 10 min. massage - very nice! Then I met up with Charles and we walked to a parking area to meet Phil and go for some breakfast. All the walking that I did afterward was probably really good.


Only the strength of my legs. I felt like I had more cardio capacity than I used. I was very happy with my run cadence. My pacing and nutrition were right on target. I want to be able to place in my age group in one of these things some day.


I loved the location. The race was super organized. I never had to wait in line for packet pickup, shirt pickup, food at the end of the race or a massage. There were tons of volunteers and well supported water/fuel stations. There were tons of people cheering the whole way. The music groups playing along the course were AWESOME! Before the race started, there was lots of fanfare including a prayer, the National Anthem, and a "Town Cryer" to get the race off to a themed start - very cool! The medal was great, too. It was kind of a bummer that you had to pay extra to get a race shirt. Otherwise, I probably would have bought some other race gear, but I had already spent my race $ for this one. I also wish they offered a little more in the way of post-race food like peanut butter for the bagels or something hot like soup. Overall, though, this was an excellent race experience and I can't wait to do it again.