Riverbank 10K

10K - 45:45 - 7:23 Pace

Well, I guess you get what you train for right. I didn't have a bad race, but it wasn't as good as I would have liked. If nothing else, this was a good wake up call that I am not training properly. I need to get back on track.

The race was a little tough right off the bat, my watch quit on me right at the start, when I got it started back up, I figured I would just us it for pacing. As I am running, I was speeding up, slowing down, trying to get my pace where I wanted it, I felt like a yo yo. About mile 3, I noticed my watch said I was running a 2:10 second mile, and that the miles run was jumping up and down. So basically I was running on feel, which I didn't like.

I think I was still hitting a pace of around 7:15, but the last mile is a bit of a killer, some rolling hills. Two years ago that might not have effected me, but I am almost strictly a treadmill trainer this year, and I have no hill training. SO it drained me. I was able to pick it up the last 0.2 miles and finish strong, but this is the first race I felt like I was going to puke afterwards......I think another sign of poor training.

Bottom line, I have three weeks till my next 10K, time to kick it in gear. Silver lining, my knee felt good :-)

Fifth Third Riverbank Run 25K

15.5 Miles - 1:55:12

What an amazing race. This is by far the best race I have done thus far. Tons of runners, I think 14,000 0verall, even more exuberant spectators, all over the course, pep squads, cheer leaders, people just parking and cheering you on. It was great. Plus I had a lot of good friends running in the various races throughout the day.

As for the run itself......it's long...not too hilly....but long. My goal was to make the 2 hours club, which I did by almost 5 minutes. I was planning on running around 7:40 miles, I ended up running 7:26 miles, which blew me away. Didn't think I was going to be that strong today. My first mile was around 8:15 and I wasn't feeling too good. Thought I was in big trouble. Once I got though mile 2 I was feeling better, still not on pace, but gaining. I caught up with Pam and Hank around mile 3, Hank was packing Pam and he had a sign he was caring during the whole run (which is amazing) that said something like the Pam 2 hour club or something. After 4 miles I just took of at a good pace and was weaving around people. It was a pretty nice course, packed with runners though, I was running on the sidewalks and in the dirt to get around people.

At the halfway point I still felt really good, and at that point I knew I was running below 7:30 miles, but I kept at that pace with how I was feeling. Then the hills came, they weren't big, but after 8 miles, any hill is big. They slowed me down a bit, but I was always able to get back to pace after I made it to the top. It was at about mile 14 that I started to struggle a little, but when I made the last turn for the home stretch, and all those people were cheering, thousands of them, it was a great feeling. I was also able to out kick everyone I was running around at the end, which has not been the case in the past. All this turned into the best race of my life so far, but I feel like things will just keep getting better.