I went out a little faster than last year and hit the 10km mark at 47:20. I tried to crank up my pace a little from there onwards. It worked for a while, but the long slow uphills took their toll and I was doing my best to hang on for those last 5 or 6 km. It was great to hit a PR even though it was only 23 seconds better than last year. I went into this one with no real long runs since my 10 mile race a month ago and almost zero runs in the last 10 days because of problems with my lower back and hip. The good news is that I had no problems with my back and hip during the race and they feel great (big thanks to my massage therapist).

McMillan's pace calculator said I should be able to do a 1:40:18 based on my 10 mile race near the beginning of October - pretty darned close.

If I want to get faster I need to log more miles. Building up my weekly mileage is one of my goals for the off season, i.e., next week.

caught some sports drink and then some hot miso soup, grabbed my bag and hit the road. They have a lot going on, but I am not big on lines and my stomach doesn't usually want too much for a couple hours after a hard race.


just training....I don't think I left much out there. My legs just need to go faster. My endurance is there and waiting.