What can I say?!? I try to have fun while suffering thru racing! It is a love/hate relationship for sure. I love how pumped up you feel when you start and I love setting big goals and going for them. I do not like how hard it is to maintain the type of pace it takes to run short distances fast. I went into this 4 mile race with an "A" goal: Run 32 mins or less with all miles being 8:00 min pace or better.
I have done this a couple times on a treadmill and once last week so I knew it was possible but was unsure of what the course was going to be like plus there were 2,500+ runners to get around. First, I want to say that every part of the race was perfect! Hundreds of volunteers, well organized, lots of goodies, plenty of post race food, cold towels at the finish, music every quarter mile, crowd support everywhere, neighbors in their yard and plenty more! It was the perfect race! Hard to believe it was the first year and all put together in around 6 weeks.
Mile 1 7:43: I was right up front so there were few crowd issues. It was flat in the beginning and then had a steep downhill. I was running way too fast but knew a hill was coming at the end of mile 1. That hill was a slow, long climb that lasted from about . 8 to 1.2. We made a left hand turn and had a nice down hill but there was another hill out in front of us. I had caught glimpses of my pace and knew I should be below 8:00
Mile 2: 8:10 This mile started rough because of the hill. I was getting a side cramp from the extra effort of two hills back to back. Then my quads and butt started getting sore. The compression socks helped a lot with feeling warmed up quicker. But I think I got too warm with them on. I kept pouring water on the back of my neck to help. I never saw my pace in the 8:00s but obviously at some point it was.
Mile 3: 7:58 Not much to remember about this mile. I did noticed that at halfway I was around 15:30 so I was on track to make less than 32 minutes. I had taken my ear buds out awhile back and was enjoying the music and crowd support. I made sure to wave and smile at as many people as I could so they knew I was running with all my heart and living in the moment for Sarah. Each mile marker had a picture of one of her child. I saw her daughter's picture at mile 3 and that was very moving.
Mile 4: 7:13. I am not sure how I busted that out but I was determined to make my goal. There was no way I was going to barely miss it. The finish was flat and slightly down hill so that helped a lot. We had to weave our way thru the runners but I was able to get around them easily. I was so happy to see that 31:03 when I crossed the finish! I also could have kissed the person that handed me an ice cold towel. That was awesome! Then I had a gatorade, banana, and HOMEmade carrot cake muffin! Great finish to the race.
Time: 31:03 (chip time)
Pace: 7:46
Place: 114/1228
2nd Place in Age Group
Great Race!!!
Lots of runners from Danville made the drive to Russell Springs along with 2,500+ people from all over the state. Plus there were virtual runners in all 50 states and 6 countries!
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