Saturday, April 16, 2011

Pat's Run 2011

6th race in 2011: 4/16/2011, 4.2 miles, Tempe, AZ.
[half way to my 2011 goal if anyone is paying attention!]

Man, that shower was awesome! :D Ok, let's backup 5 hours....

A beautiful day for a race and remembering a hero! My first time running Pat's Run!! Geyer picked up at 5:30 A.M., we drove to the rail station, hopped on the light rail after a brief wait, and mocked runners and families alike along the way. Shortly after arriving at the start area, a woman tried to
subtly flirt / stalk talk with Jeff. She was trying to find the race bib pickup area and I guess she thought we would know since we were wearing one. Great job coming prepared...that will win races! I am sure she beat both of us but I doubt it!!

Jeff and I started in corral 5 so we took off about 7 minutes after the official 7:00 A.M. start. We stayed together for maybe the first minute, then he weaseled through a rare opening in the densely packed course and I lost sight of him after another 5 minutes of running. My plan was to run slower but steady, being careful with my foot and lungs. Jeff told me about the first hill at Curry so I was prepared though my quads ached more in that section than I expected. He forgot about the hill on Rural at mile 3 and that almost did me in! I told myself to keep running though my lungs were tight. The climb into the stadium was initially daunting but I knew that I was close and inspired by the moment. I finished the 4.2 mile course in 41:08, 52 seconds faster than my goal...YAY! Then I found Jeff who had finished 3 minutes earlier, setting a new PR for this race. We found bananas, oranges, Powerade, water and chillaxed in the stadium, watched other people finish their race. People kept running in and running in and running in...the sea of people did not stop! Inspiration all around.

So, yeah the shower felt great when I got home. A great day for a morning race! Pretty soon we will get to the races that start at 6:30 A.M. Yikes it is getting hot!

Now I am due for a nap. Do you think I could get a job as an air traffic controller too? Jeez! :D

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