Hermes 10-miler

Mother nature wasn't kind to us 10-miler racers on Saturday. I was convinced that it wouldn't rain, but wow, was I wrong. It wasn't too bad during the race, but after, I shivered all the way to the car (and I was running).

Well, I actually set a new 10-mile PR by almost a minute. My chip time was 1:31:58 (finished 38 out of 78 in my age group). Last year, I ran it in 1:34:32 and the year before in 1:32:56 (my prior PR).

I tried to stick to my coach's assigned plan, but my HR was out of control almost the whole time. Nutrition was solid and pace was even (even split the first and second halves). I felt fabulous heading out on Marginal, but should have known there would be a headwind heading back. Oh well, that is the way it is on almost all of my training runs on Marginal. Hill climbing was solid too which I attribute to all of those hill repeats Angela makes me do. I'm sick and actually like the varying terrain. : )

After I finished, I headed back out to find my co-worker. It was not only her first 10-mile race, but also the first time she'd ever gone 10 miles. She's training for the Cleveland half-marathon and is a very new runner. While she did have to walk a bit on the last mile, she finished strong and was well under her goal time. Pretty cool!

After grabbing a slice of pizza and some water, I ran back to my car. It was so freaking cold and wet, but I'm glad that I could still run. My hamstring is super tight, but I did make it through my 3-hour ride and 40-minute run yesterday. I'm hopeful that it is just sore and not injured again. Keep your fingers crossed!