Well, we got some snow last night but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. The temp at race start time was 32 degrees, and there was a layer of quickly melting ice on the road. I decided to run in my YakTracks, and they made a big difference about the first 2-3 miles. My good friend Lindsay and her sister in law were at the race as well, and I can’t tell you how nice it was to have some familiar faces there! Troy decided to hook up the Chariot to his bike and ride the entire course with Annie to watch and cheer at different sections. This was AWESOME, it was so nice to he him, always smiling and telling me good job. We remembered the camera this time, and above I have posted race pics (for once)! Okay, so the race. Well, 10 miles...it’s a long way! You can’t get all excited and go fast because there is just so much of the race ahead. This is the longest race I had ever run and I just decided to take it ONE MILE AT A TIME. So when we started I just told myself to calm down, stay relaxed and try to hit an 8 minute mile. I did that, so I thought, okay, another 8 minute mile...I did that. Well essentially the race went about like that from mile to mile. Each mile I gained more confidence that I could maintain this pace. My iPod helped a ton, I ran to the beat, and cranked it up really loud. Probably 90% of the people in the race had on headphones! 10 miles at 32 degrees...you have to have a little help! The last mile I told myself I could go, I could let out everything I had left, and I aimed for a 7:30 mile. I indeed hit just that. The race felt really good, and I realized that it’s just about taking it one mile at a time and staying positive in your self talk! My recorded time with the race officials was 1:19.20, so 40 seconds under 8 minute pace, or 7:56 pace. My watch saw things a little different, it said 1:19.10. I’m not sure where those 10 seconds went, and I find it odd that it’s almost exactly 10 seconds. Here are my mile splits off my watch: Mile 1: 7:58 Mile 2: 7:55 Mile 3: 7:45 Mile 4: 7:54 Mile 5: 7:56 Mile 6: 8:00 Mile 7: 7:57 Mile 8: 8:00 Mile 9: 8:08 (hit the lap button a little late) Mile 10: 7:33

I will update my placing information when results are made available this evening. There were many many many fast ladies there today, so my placing wasn’t as glamorous as usual!

My official time is 1:19.12. I was 6th in the 20-29 age group, I was 43rd out of 144 racers in the 10 mile.