Butch is on the right; don't know #986. Courtesy photo. I had a photo of Sharon, too; what did I do with that?Race 39 for the year was the Pepsi 10K (6.2 miles), a benefit for Special Olympics. The course began near Crozet, VA, at Merryweather School. Heat index was 92 degrees, and the temperature was about 88 at 8:00 a.m. when the race began. There were about 400 runners, double that course's usual, according to the announcer.
Though the hills didn't seem steep, they seemed to go on and on forever. I found myself slogging along at all out effort but running slow and then I'd crest and head downhill a spell, and realize I'd run another one.
Mile one was 8:14 minues. Mile two was 8:30. And the mile times just climbed after that. I should have had a sports drink before beginning this one. But this time of year it's pretty hard to tell; it felt pretty cool when we left home at around 6:00 a.m. I'm confident I gave this one everything I had though. Legs hurt. Stomach was complaining. Lungs held out though; I used my inhaler x2 before starting. So I feel pretty good about it.
Butch came in right around 1 hour. Our friends George and Susan weren't there; he's in Iowa and she's on the injured list. Sharon, our cycling friend, took second in our division. And she said her time was two minutes slower than she had run this race previously (she's cycling a century tomorrow!). I heard others say they ran slow, too, so I think the heat slowed everyone down just a bit.
Nonetheless the scenery was beautiful and runners behaved themselves. I even got a hug from a mom-to-be in her mid-20s, early 30s. She would walk partway uphill, and then run down; so we played cat-and-mouse for a while, taking turns being in the lead. I encouraged her on her run-walk, told her it's a great race technique for a hilly race and what I did to win my first 10-miler last fall. About half a mile from the finish line, she reached over and gave me a hug, a real side-by-side hug during a race. Made my day.
Though the hills didn't seem steep, they seemed to go on and on forever. I found myself slogging along at all out effort but running slow and then I'd crest and head downhill a spell, and realize I'd run another one.
Mile one was 8:14 minues. Mile two was 8:30. And the mile times just climbed after that. I should have had a sports drink before beginning this one. But this time of year it's pretty hard to tell; it felt pretty cool when we left home at around 6:00 a.m. I'm confident I gave this one everything I had though. Legs hurt. Stomach was complaining. Lungs held out though; I used my inhaler x2 before starting. So I feel pretty good about it.
Butch came in right around 1 hour. Our friends George and Susan weren't there; he's in Iowa and she's on the injured list. Sharon, our cycling friend, took second in our division. And she said her time was two minutes slower than she had run this race previously (she's cycling a century tomorrow!). I heard others say they ran slow, too, so I think the heat slowed everyone down just a bit.
Nonetheless the scenery was beautiful and runners behaved themselves. I even got a hug from a mom-to-be in her mid-20s, early 30s. She would walk partway uphill, and then run down; so we played cat-and-mouse for a while, taking turns being in the lead. I encouraged her on her run-walk, told her it's a great race technique for a hilly race and what I did to win my first 10-miler last fall. About half a mile from the finish line, she reached over and gave me a hug, a real side-by-side hug during a race. Made my day.
