Human Race 8K, 2010 Edition

Me, Deb, Val, Anita

Well, another race is in the books. This was the opener for both the MDRA Grand Prix and the USATF race series. It's a fast race. Pretty fast course (just a few small hills and inclines) and very fast runners. It totally intimidates me. Tom and Alex Woo and I carpooled up to St. Thomas where the race is headquartered. The old field house has been torn down and is being replaced so packet pick-up was outside. I was fortunate to get a parking spot less than 100 yards away. Parking up there is a challenge. Then I waited for my River Runners team members to arrive. We saw Chris O'Brien and hubby Tom and Chris Kujath.

I got a photo of most of our team. Welcome, Tom Woo who is now running for the River Runners as well.

Top: Tom, Paul, Anita, Rick, Cindy, Me, Kate, Deb

Bottom: Adam, Mollie, Shannon, Val, Wanda, Judy, Linda

Then I dropped my sweats in the car and headed out for a short warm-up. The temp was very good for racing (I like it cool), but it was pretty windy from the north. So we had a stiff crosswind for pretty much the whole course. I'd decided to wear my new ds trainers despite having just 6 miles on them. They do feel light, but I can tell there is a lot less "beef" to the midsole and the heel is definitely lower.

I was nervous, as is usually the case, at the start and was anxious to get going. The gun fired (sort of ... pretty lame "gun" and there were lots of comments to that effect!) and we were off, heading east up Summit Avenue. The course is an out-and-back, with a loop around the block at the far end. My first mile was 6:21. Too fast. I didn't think I could hold that pace for 5 miles, so I eased off a bit. 6:31 for mile 2. 6:42 for mile 3. Tom Woo had told me again that mile 4 is slow. It was true last year and was true again this year. 6:54. Yikes. Ouch. Mile 5 was 6:35. All 3 of us had EXACTLY 5.00 miles on our Garmins. A P.R. 33:05 (My previous PR was last year's 34:42.) My average pace was 6:38.  I'll take it.  :-)

On the course, I heard a cheer from someone. Wayne Nelson. Thank you Wayne! He also snapped a photo. I asked him to send it to me. It was toward the end of the race, so it could be ugly. At the finish, I spotted John Brown, Pat Brown, Andy Shulha, Mark Cary,

Carrie Gilman (didn't see Pete, though he ran it), Andrew Petz. Of course, I had cookies to share. :-) Always cookies ...

On the way back to the car, I heard my name. It was a blast from my past ... Brian Hecht!! I went to college with him and he was one of my very best friends. It was great to see him again. Gave him a big hug! His wife Janie had run the race.

So I spend a couple minutes catching up with him, and then Tom and Alex indulged me in a little errand ... we walked down Grand Avenue to Whole Foods. I am totally out of Callebaut bittersweet chocolate, which I use for making those killer chocolate cookies with chocolate chunks.

I can't buy it in Rochester. Then it was time to head back to Roch (with a stop for a Diet Coke on the way). LaRee and I are going to DQ tonight. She's been craving DQ and I'm going to celebrate my PR today. :-)

It's been a good day. :-) Toodles.