More on the race . . .

So, by the numbers: I came in 7,109 of 26,242 overall finishers (about the top 25%); 391 of 2062 in my age group (about the top 20%); ran the second half very slightly faster than the first half (19 seconds faster, to be precise -- this is a good thing); and had a 9:09 pace overall (faster than my training pace).

May I say that I was really quite pleased with myself?

More generally, it was a great day to run. Everything went perfectly for me as far as getting there, parking near the start (my little secret!), watching the elite runners sprint off, and laughing at the costumed runners. The speedo-ed "Michael Phelps" certainly encouraged me to get past him, and some people I knew won first in the group contest with a great Ms. Pac-Man theme. The weather was perfect. The waves were nicely timed, so there weren't too many slow people to dodge. There were bands and spectators all along the course, and then there is the course itself, which is just one of those perfectly lovely places that makes me glad to live in Richmond.

Pictures later if I buy them!

56:55!

That, my friends, is my best-ever 10K time . . . all on very slack training, thank you very much.  The original plan was that this would be the year I really tried - the goal was a sub-55.  But what with the traveling to Alabama, getting sick, getting engaged, snow, and it just being too darn cold to get out of bed in the morning, I sort of didn't get started until two weeks ago.  My long run (on a treadmill) was a pathetic 3 miles.

The only theory I have was that the caffeinated Jelly Bellies I scarfed down before the race helped, as did predicting my time optimistically so I wasn't stuck running around slowpokes.  Anyway, yay me!  I'll have a more thorough analysis of splits, places, and all that later.

The Good News . . .

 . . . is it's finally cool enough in the  mornings to run outside.

The bad news is that I'd forgotten how hard hills are.  (Just 5.5 miles today instead of the half-marathon-training-program-prescribed 7.)

But a bad day at Deep Run Park is better than a good day at the gym, even if Gold's does show ESPN.

Monument Avenue Analysis!

Okay, so the time was 1:01:32, which was an entire second faster than my roommate Kristin. It is a personal record (sadly enough) for my 10K, besting my previous best by about 20 seconds. It also works out to about a 9:54 pace. There were 1791 women in my age group, of whom I finished 525th, a little less than a third of the way back. Overall, I finished 9,266 of 24,055 finishers. There were 14,066 women who finished the race, and I was the 3500th woman to finish.

I was pretty pleased with it all . . . my goal was really just to finish in one piece, as the half marathon was just three weeks prior, and my right leg had been a little gimpy for the last week and a half. I do think I could have had a better time if (1) The weather had been slightly better, (2) Said right leg hadn't started acting up around mile five, and (3) My fellow racers had accurately predicted their times and not gummed up the works, forcing me to run around them. Seriously, people, I really do understand and sympathize if you're not a fast runner. (See times above.) But you need to own the slow.

(Oh, and the right leg is feeling more or less normal again. Also, Kenny, my Facebook page has a pic of me running.)

Yay me!

I just checked my half-marathon results and am pretty pleased . . . I ran a 2:15!  (Okay, actually it was more like 2:15:55, but we're rounding this one down, okay?)  This means I maintained a 10:23 pace over 13.1 miles, which isn't too shabby for me.  I finished about halfway through my division - women 30 to 34 - and halfway among women overall.

Aside from having to get up at the well before the crack of dawn, and also aside from getting stuck in marathon traffic on the way back, everything went really well.  It was cold and windy at the start, got less windy for a bit, then windy at the finish too!  But I felt really good at the end and still am not too sore.  I hope to have pictures later - if they're any good, I'm totally springing for them.

More later . . .