That's what my friends and I are calling it. It's my birthday! I feel like I should buy a Powerball ticket or something, 10-10-10 seems like it's pretty lucky!
It's been a great weekend. Yesterday I did the Hartford 1/2 and the weather was perfect. I wasn't as fast as I had hoped but I wasn't terrible either. My overall pace was 10:35/mile and that's nothing to complain about. I also wasted a good 4 minutes waiting in line for a porta-john because they only had 2 or 3 about every other mile for 3,000 runners. I've never needed to use the bathroom during a race and I'm going to try to avoid it at all costs from now on because it just kills my pace. The medal is hardcore! When I did the race in 2003 the 1/2 finishers just got a little pin. This medal is some serious hardware!
The shirt is awesome too, it's the nicest one I've ever gotten for a race. I like the overlock stitching on it. AND it's the first time I've gotten a "female" shirt, usually it's unisex and those shirts are so boxy. This one is fitted and I'll wear this one a lot when I'm training in the cooler weather.
My splits were all decent, minus the bathroom stop mile.
When I was running the course (it's a new one from 2003) I kept thinking that it seemed really hilly. I wasn't wrong.
That's a lot of elevation! No wonder I was a little slower. That giant big blue spike is me waiting in the bathroom line. Also, the course was 13.56 miles. I trust my running app down to the millimeter and an extra 4/10ths of a mile is over 4 minutes of running for me. I've read that they measure courses taking the shortest possible distance, so you'd have to hug the inside track on every corner to hit that distance. If you're in the middle of the road or on the outside corner, it all adds up. So when I take all of that into account, I'm not unhappy with my performance.
Today I did my short run and I got a birthday present of my first sub-10 average mile pace!
This course is no joke either, it's the hill course from hell that I've complained about so many times. I felt like I was totally in control and I felt amazingly strong. That's a very good thing because I'm going into my peak week. The big one. The one that will get me to the finish line: a 10-miler, 2 5-mile runs, and the big ole 20-miler. I've just got to hold it together for this week and then I can go into the taper feeling as confident as I can be that I've truly put in the work and I'm as ready as I'm going to be for the marathon.
I love it! I hope that medal doesn't change next year because I want one! And I want that shirt, too!! Great job, girl! WOOHOO!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOh and I haven't said it enough yet today:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Enjoy your day. Nap. Relax. Whatever. LOL It's your day. 10/10/10 That is a pretty awesome date. I'm never going to get anything like that.