There were something like 3500 runners total between the individual and team divisions, once again I was feeling like a sardine as we started out. Oddly there was no gun or air horn or anything (weird) just some dude yelling go and all of a sudden the mass of sardines was moving. After folks got over the timing mat/start line it was still packed for the first quarter mile, I was running in and out trying to get around people. I would complain here about people needed to pay attention to where they line up and that they should line up in the appropriate pace group, blah, blah, blah so that way people aren't stuck behind slower people but that would just be silly of me because I am completely unable to judge my pace or know what I should run at. I'm no runner and certainly no expert so while it was annoying to have to try and get around people I'm one of those same people I would be complaining about - although I have a tendency to line up in a group that is slower then what I am anyway. In any case after the first quarter mile the road widened so while it wasn't that I was running with less people there was at least a lot more room. As I mentioned I did this run last year and last year, I'm not going to lie, it seemed long, this year not so much. I took off pretty fast out of the gate, for me, and all I could think was uh-oh I could blow up, I just ran a half marathon at a pace that I never thought I was capable of and ran Sunday and Monday and was now running this race on absolutely no rest and was thinking I should go as fast as I could go...really? Whatever, like I said I was cooking along for me and after what was a very short amount of time I felt tired...I told myself to HTFU - it's only three freaking miles, jeezus, you can do this crap in your sleep - did I really just write that? When did I become that girl? It was a fun race. I pushed, I got passed bu also passed quite a few people, I do remember thinking as I came across the bridge and turned the last corner toward the finish line, that a year ago at this time I was in a totally different place running this race and what a year it had been.

Nothing. Last year when I ran this race (my second race ever) my time was 28:37 - this year to run it and hit 23:47 - really?!?!?!? When I decided to do the race yesterday I did have a goal in my head and I hit it (sub 24)!!! To take 4:50 seconds off my time from last year and to finish in the top 5% of my age group, really? There isn't anything I can change or would even want to change. It's been a great year.

Walked around and waited for Thomas to finish. This was his first race and his first time ever doing 3 miles so when I saw him coming down the home stretch I started screaming for him he got really excited and started to run faster. Found him and we hurried back to the car - it was cold and windy, blasted the heat and headed back to the burg.


Nothing.


ORRRC did a great job as usual. Although my after race celebration this year (a fews beers with friends), while fun, just wasn't as good as last year's post race celebration.