Awesome race. High fived Mayor Nutter at the start and had a great time during the race. Lots of local bands were out and some colorful people from the neighborhoods. This is a fun race and I have done it many times. As far as the running part it was as good as I could expect. I thought 8:40 pace would be about right. I wore a watch for the first time in a race like this and it really helped. I usually just run by feel and usually feels too good at the start. Last year I ran the second mile in 7:40 and crashed at the end. This year I was pretty consistent between 8:20 and 8:30 for the first five miles. It felt easy up to that point. From about 6 to 8 it got harder to maintain the pace but because of the watch I did. Mile 9 I was out of steam and could not hold the pace slowed down to 9:00 but was able to hold that. Last mile I was able to get back to 8:40. Overall I am happy. It was the best effect I had. I was spent at the end and I am not too sore today. Time is consistent with what I usually run. I have been 1:25-1:28 for the last decade. I do wonder what happened mile 9. Is that a lack of conditioning or a nutrition issue. I didn't eat or drink anything during the race. When I slowed down I wasn't breathing hard I just couldn't move my legs any faster. |