Yesterday was the much anticipated Pikes Peek. Saturday night I didn't sleep very well, tossing and turning throughout the night. It thunderstormed Saturday and I was really dreading the possibility of running in the rain. Sunday morning was cold and dreary but luckily it didn't rain a single drop on us. It was definitely better than blazing hot sun. I had to stop once to re-tie my shoes (I did run in the new ones)and I stopped to get a drink at one of the water stops. Other than that, I ran the whole way not stopping to walk at all. The last half mile or so is all downnhill and knowing this, I had planned to increase my speed for a great finish. When the road started going down and I could make out the balloons, I sprinted to the finish. I have seriously never run that fast before in my life! I was breathing hard and zooming past the other runners left and right. It was amazing! And the verdict? I ran 2 1/2 minutes faster than I did 2 years ago for a net time of 1:04:11. That's a 10:20 mile. 2 years ago I finished in 1:06:45 and ran a 10:45 mile. My main goal was to beat my previous time which I did, so I'm thrilled. My goal for next year is to finish in under an hour.
I did experience some shin pain during the race but afterwards felt fine. I hope I'll be able to continue my training for the Army ten-miler in October. When I hit the 5 mile mark yesterday I was glad to know I only had about 1 mile left, but then I thought, "holy crap, I would only be half way done if this were a 10-miler!" It's a good thing I have 6 more months of training.
I'm going to give my muscles a rest today and tomorrow just do the bike and/or elliptical. I'll probably run easy on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday and start back with my normal running schedule next week. I'll continue to post how it goes and I have many more races scheduled for the summer that I'll definitely write about!
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