Pepsi 10K (6.2 miles, plus warmup)

I had a great run - I ran the first 4 with Claudia - Jim was just ahead, and finished in just under an hour. I started out feeling a little sheepish for having missed the long run last weekend (and two weeks before, and two weeks before that) - Jim did 20 miles! Holy crap. But with 2 months to go, I think I'll be okay. I think that having the break has been good - I missed some of the hottest weeks of the summer, and got recharged and rested. Starting training in June for a November marathon is a little bit overkill. I see that now.

Before the race, I jokingly said I'd run it in 67 minutes, but estimating that I'd actually do it in about 70 -75 minutes, which is about an 11:30 pace. Claudia is still getting over her injury, so we started out together. We did the first mile in something crazy, like 10:05. Don't laugh, you hard core folks. To me, a 10 minute mile might as well be a 4 minute mile. We continued at a fairly good clip until just before mile 4. There was a long hill just before the turnaround at mile 4, and when we came around the bend and saw just how long we had to go until the turnaround, my legs just died. Claudia went ahead, and I walked up the hill a bit. I got my second wind around mile 5, and was passing people left and right (okay, so I passed a guy who must have been 70 and a couple of people jogging with headphones who may or may not have actually been part of the race) all the way in to the finish. That was fun! It was a small race (250 entrants), so I was by myself in the chute. There was lots of cheering and I felt like I was winning!

And then I looked at the clock: Yippee! 1:06:40 - that's 10:45 per mile, and 20 seconds faster than my joking, pie-in-the-sky time. Whoosh!

I gobbled up a whole wheat everything bagel, and milled around with Jim and Claudia. There was a drawing for door prizes, and I won one! I had my choice of a travel mug, $5 and a sticker from C-ville Coffee, some schwaggy stuff like t-shirts, or, a round of golf (plus cart) for 2 at Birdwood. I took the golf, figuring that Max's papa might enjoy it.

Jim, Claudia, and some others were heading to Panera after. I really wanted to go, but, as I put it so eloquently when they invited me, my boobs needed to get home.