I was very happy with this run. I've only done one 8k race before and I had a time of 52 minutes or something like that, so this was an 8k PR (based on my sampling of 2 :) ).

I started with Emily (BikerGrrrl) and the goal was to stay with her for as long as I could. She was definitely pulling me along faster than I would have gone alone, so that was great. We were well under 10:00 miles for the first two. Right before the turn around, though, my IT band reared it's ugly head and I had to slow down. I tried to keep Emily in sight, but by the 3 mile marker she was gone. :)

I slowed a bit to give the knee a chance to recover, but that wasn't really doing a lot, so my choices were the limp run, or walking. So, limp running it was...for about 2.5 miles. Ugh.

Mile 4 was tough. It was a long slow incline and I was getting pretty tired and very hot at that point. I had left my outer layer jacket behind at the start (Thanks for holding it, Bob!) but should also have left one of my two shirts since I was just roasting by mile 4, but oh well. Not much to do but push on. This was my slowest mile, at 10:18.

The last mile (or .95, or whatever it is) was a long slow downhill--THANK GOD. It was nice to be able to feel better for the last mile. I tried to kick it in for the last half mile or so and was able to finally pass this lady who had been about 15 yards ahead of me for most of the race.

Not aggravate the IT band. Leave another shirt layer behind. Not park so damn far away from the race start. Otherwise, not much. It was a good race for me.

Walked around at the finish and watch Emily's pal Nikki finish. I figured my loooong walk back to my car would serve as a good cool down. As an added bonus, it was back out along the race course, so I was able to cheer for Quiana as she came in for the last mile!

I'm not sure how great of a warm down the walk ended up being because I was freezing by the time I finally got to the car. I think it did help keep my legs from totally cramping up though, and hopefully helped the IT calm down a bit.


IT band, as always. General slowness, as always.


Nice race, nice shirts, nice course! I was very glad that I was able to average sub 10 minute miles even though I didn't have a pacer for the second half of the race. Thanks to Emily for dragging me along for the first half! :) My goal is to someday finish mid-pack for a running race, so 42/57 doesn't quite do it, but just the fact that 15 people in my age group finished after I did is pretty unheard of for me.

Very nice to meet Bryan and Kelly, and Quiana and her husband, and good to see Emily and Bob again. I didn't cross paths with Bridget (freckle face), though, which was a bummer. I'm sure she was long done and on her way home by the time I finished. :)