At the start of the Reston 10 miler on March 2, it was pretty chilly and I was a little nervous. Gail and I had a goal of keeping all miles under 11 mins per mile. I know I have done this before, during a marathon no less, but these kinds of time goals make me a little bit apprehensive because I hate having that let down feeling, but without a goal of some sort, I tend to just meander… Anywho, I had glanced at the elevation chart before the race and was somewhat prepared for the rolling hills and especially the late-in-the-race hills around mile 6-8 — wooooo….

The course was challenging and it was fun to have a buddy through the majority of the race! Gail kept me moving faster even when I wanted to stop because she wouldn’t leave me and I knew she could run faster so I tried to maintain a faster pace despite my concerns about being burnt out by the end. I did my part by keeping us on a steady pace and ensuring that we finished with some gas in the tank. All Gail kept saying was “the only thing that is motivating me is the idea of Ted’s Bulletin for brunch after this!” <– this made me smile each time she said this. Our splits looked like this: 

I felt like our overall splits were solid and the last mile at 9:42 when I was balls tired, gives me hope for a possible sub 2 later in the year. Maintaining a 10:42 pace over the course of ten miles also gives me hopes of a PR during my fall marathon (MCM rematch!). The elevation was challenging but it was a beautiful course and PR Running did a great job with the race! Gail was awesome company and checked in with me consistently throughout the race as there were some concerns over my heel from a treadmill run earlier in the week, which had caused me some pretty severe pain. My heel actually had no pain while running and my foot just felt like it needed to be stretched. It was crazy weird because I was looking at possible symptoms of Plantars Fascitis… I had spoken with my coach and she said to do some stretches and continue on with the running. So I ran this ten miler. 

It was fun. Gail was great. She could definitely go faster. We picked up her buddy around mile 5. They both took off for the final mile. I picked it up a little… still REALLY proud of that last mile. I realize I am totally rambling now. But I digress… I PR-ed the 10 mile distance <– this was my first official 10 mile race, so automatic PR, but this time actually bested all of my training runs too! 

Come back and all of that. And if you are bored and want to help a sister out, go over here and make a donation to help the puppies and the kitties! We are 45% there! 

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