Yesterday I met the group for the traditional 30-minute run plus stretching that we do the day before the race. That felt good, and filled me with plenty of confidence. I intended to go out and run a PR today, and I knew I was in the shape to do it.
This morning I arrived plenty early for some warm-ups. The weather wasn’t too bad yesterday, but today the humidity was out in full force. I was sweating a ton by the time I was doing the pre-race drills. I lined up pretty close to the front and got ready to go.
My goal was to run the course in 40 minutes. The gun went off, and we took off running. I got to the first mile marker right on schedule, but I knew I would lose some time in the hills. My water stop strategy was to grab one cup to drink when I needed it but always get one cup to dump on my head. That burst of cool felt really good. I felt really good running. I know I still carried a lot of tension in my upper body, but I think I did a little better with my hips and legs. We were through the hills after four miles, and I felt pretty tired from then on. By mile six I was just ready to be done, and I was really happy to make the last turn and see the finish line. I saw the clock and knew I didn’t make my goal, but I did have a healthy PR. My time was 40:29. I took a big bite off my time from last year (more than a minute), so hopefully this means I’m in such better shape that I’ll start knocking down more of my records this year.
Finishing early does have its rewards. I walked straight over to the massage tent and hopped in. After ten minutes or so I was done, and a nice big line had formed by then.