Start time was 8AM; I would have preferred 7:30AM for slightly cooler conditions. I lined up on the right hand side of the pack, second row. The gun went off and I felt great. I ran the first half mile way too fast, promptly got nervous and reeled it in. I actually felt very good considering that I was running well under a sub-7 pace, but since I lack recent short course road racing experience, I didn't know what I could skate by on. Besides, McMillan told me that I should aim for a 7:32.

Mile 1- 7:08

At the beginning of mile 2, I caught up to and passed my a running friend of mine and once again had thoughts that I might be going too fast. I slowed up a bit more and then fell into pace behind another runner for the next 2 miles. I still felt great... maybe too great!

Mile 2- 7:23

Mile 3- 7:20

I hit the 5k mark at 22:34 which is a new 5k PR for me by 41 seconds. I let out an audible squeal when this happened. I definitely did not expect a 5k PR during an 8k race. As I watched Garmin tick past 3.1 miles, I decided to pick things up and pass the dude that I had been running behind. I knew at this point that I could run the next two miles faster than the 7:20s that I had just posted. McMillan had lied to me! LOL! Runner dude held out his fist as I made my move to pass him and we swapped "fist potatoes" mid run. I love that kind of shiz.

The back half of the course had a lot of twists and turns and I had no idea how many women were ahead of me. At this point, I could see only one... perhaps 1/4 mile ahead or so.

Mile 4- 7:14

During the last mile I passed three more men and seriously closed the gap on the one woman in front of me. I think if this had been a 10k and not an 8k, I would have eventually gotten her. As I finished up mile 5 (8k is technically 4.97 miles, but all of the twists and turns had me at 5.06 by the finish), I felt my legs getting heavier and heavier. This bummed me out a bit because my engine was still roaring to go! Over the past few months this has been a common complaint of mine-- it doesn't matter if I'm on the bike or if I'm running, I seem to be limited by muscular fatigue and not necessarily aerobic capacity. I sure do wish one would catch up with the other. Suggestions are welcome. :-)

Mile 5- 7:12

I kicked a solid 6:20 pace for the last bit of the race and let out a loud "wooo-hoo" as I crossed the finish line. Aside from the leg fatigue, I felt terrific! There was no pukey feeling and I was talking to some club teammates right away... which means I still had some gas left in the tank. I was elated! Just like at Disney, I surprised myself! This was another race done on unrested legs and I surpassed my expectations... and McMillan's as well. :-)

I grabbed a bottle of water and then ran another 2 miles to cool down. What a great race! The only real bummer was that I was once again my "own" sherpa and hence, I do not have lots of race pics to post. At the awards ceremony I collected the cutest (and smallest) blue ribbon, shamrock medal ever!


No taper; lots of tri training earlier in the week.