Slow and steady....

does not win races. But I bet all of you already knew that. What slow and steady will get you is through a bear of a race course without walking. This race's goals:
1) not to walk.
2) my hoped for goal: 48 minutes - did not make this goal.
3) my super secret, God loves me, and all the stars are properly aligned goal - 44 minutes. Didn't make goal 2 so I sure didn't make this one.

My time was net time 48:50-something, my gun time about minute slower. 12:15 m/m. *shrugs*

The weather was perfect running weather for me. It was about 40, drizzly. I loved it. It couldn't have been better if I ordered it. I dressed perfectly - a long sleeved t-shirt and pants. I was cold at the start but warmed up nicely. My plan was to run conservatively, not get caught up in the race atmosphere and adrenaline and watch my pace. I said 'nice seeing you' to Bridget at the quarter mile mark when she went whizzing by me and settled in to run my race alone. And I was pretty lonely. Running is a solitary endeavor. Even in a group, it is solitary in that your goals and your success is determined only by your feet pounding the ground, your lungs and heart moving oxygen to protesting muscles. I have been running in a group most of the time lately though, that I missed the support and the comradery I get from my friends. I also missed Cosmo. I did not like running without him.

I ran with the same small crowd pretty much the whole way. At my pace, there were lots of people walking. I passed a couple of girls on the first hill, turning off by Colemans. They were already struggling and complaining, asking if this was the hill they heard of. 'Nuh-uh, ladies. Not even close', I told them. I shouldn't have because their faces just fell. The pattern that most people seemed to adopt was to run very fast for half a block, pass me and then walk. I would trudge along, pass them and then the pattern would repeat. I got kind of sick of these people sprinting pass me. One time, at about 2.5 miles, I came up behind a guy who was walking, he was obviously struggling. He turned around, saw me and took off running. I hate to ascribe motives to strangers and I am willing to entertain the thought that I might be a little sensitive but I swear, if that guy had a thought balloon, it would have said, "oh man, I can't let this chick pass me'. I came up behind him again on the last long hill. He was walking. I was running. This time I passed him and didn't see him again :-)

The street side crowd wasn't anything like last year but there were still some hardy souls out there. There were a couple of drum bands on various street corners. Let me just say, I appreciated their presence and their effort but those kids had no rhythm. I don't know what they were drumming but it did nothing to help my cadence :-) There was a great little crowd of kids almost at the top of the main hill. They were hollering encouragement, banging pots and generally making lots of noise and having a great time. They got a thumbs up from me - I appreciated their encouragement.

I made arrangements with my friend Wendy to wait at the corner of Lowell and Coleridge for me. She ran this race last year but this year she is nursing some bad knees. Of course, she said last year's was the hardest race she ever did and would never run it again but I think I might have been able to talk her into it if she was healthy :-) I saw Kris at the bottom of Lowell (the start of the long hill) and I thought we could do the last stretch together but her stomach was bothering her, so I continued alone. All I could think all the way up Lowell was that Wendy would be at the corner and would take me up the Coleridge hill. I clutched at that thought like a baby with a pacifier. I get to the corner and no one. She wasn't at the corner but actually a little ways up the hill with my husband and another friend, Deb. I wasn't expecting Deb so it was great to see her and pondering her gorgeous red hair distracted me for a moment. I was going pretty slow at this point (but still running, thank you very much) but Wendy jogged along with me, chatting, filling me in on who had already passed and how they were doing. I couldn't respond but I did hang on every word out of her mouth. She ran a little ways past the top of the hill and then left me saying she would see me at the finish line.

With about a mile left, I had one more hill to go. It wasn't bad - I had no problem getting up it. The last stretch, I could see Sue and Theresa in front of me about 50 feet. I tried to catch them because I thought it would be neat to finish together but I just didn't have enough road or breath left to do it. I finished about 20 seconds behind them.

My game plan was to be conservative so I could make my main goal of not walking. Usually, I like to finish a race exhausted and spent. I like knowing I left everything I could on that course and I have nothing left to give. Unfortunately, my conservative plan led me to run a little too conservative in the first half of the race. Both Jen and Bridget were sore and tired this afternoon and Sue is complaining of soreness on her blog. I feel like I could go out tomorrow and run the same course, which means I didn't run hard enough :-( Oh, well, live and learn. It was more important to me to run the whole course than to run faster and maybe have to walk. Next year is another chance.

Pictures will be posted tomorrow.