Saturday, November 04, 2006
Stone Mountain
I ran 15 miles! Correction raced 15 miles today and finished in 2:05:58! A slow 8:24 pace, but we are talking 15 miles. In addition, I took home my first bit of hardware. I was 2nd place in my age category. (Okay, so with the temperature at 35 degree and the other options being a 5 miles or 10 miles, the 15 mile was not exactly the most popular distance.)
It was a beautiful, if cold, morning. The sky was clear, the sun sharp and bright, and the autumn leaves full of color. It was a great morning for a run. The route around Stone Mountain is rolling with some moderate hills. For a welcome change, today I was able to pace myself almost perfectly from the very start of the race. At the start, I managed to ignore the other runners, most of who where doing shorter distances, and find my own pace which I felt I would be able to maintain through the race. That is exactly what I did. The first mile I ran in 8:30. My pace for the entire race averaged out to 8:24/mi.
I was strong and steady for the first 10 miles, but by mile 11 I was starting to feel some weakness in my legs and it was difficult to keep the pace going. However, some strong runners around me pushed me to keep going. There is nothing as motivating to me as hearing the rhythmic sound of running shoes slapping the pavement just behind me. At one point, I was ready to turn and say just pass me already, put me out of my misery, trying to stay ahead of you is killing me. Nevertheless, I kept slogging ahead and after awhile I realized I was not hearing those sneakers behind me anymore.
I was very surprised when I finished the race and was filling out my time card to see that there was only one card ahead of mine in the basket. Only one, but that would mean I had placed second in my age group. Yes me, 35-39 year old male, second place. And just for the record, there was a third place.
It was a beautiful, if cold, morning. The sky was clear, the sun sharp and bright, and the autumn leaves full of color. It was a great morning for a run. The route around Stone Mountain is rolling with some moderate hills. For a welcome change, today I was able to pace myself almost perfectly from the very start of the race. At the start, I managed to ignore the other runners, most of who where doing shorter distances, and find my own pace which I felt I would be able to maintain through the race. That is exactly what I did. The first mile I ran in 8:30. My pace for the entire race averaged out to 8:24/mi.
I was strong and steady for the first 10 miles, but by mile 11 I was starting to feel some weakness in my legs and it was difficult to keep the pace going. However, some strong runners around me pushed me to keep going. There is nothing as motivating to me as hearing the rhythmic sound of running shoes slapping the pavement just behind me. At one point, I was ready to turn and say just pass me already, put me out of my misery, trying to stay ahead of you is killing me. Nevertheless, I kept slogging ahead and after awhile I realized I was not hearing those sneakers behind me anymore.
I was very surprised when I finished the race and was filling out my time card to see that there was only one card ahead of mine in the basket. Only one, but that would mean I had placed second in my age group. Yes me, 35-39 year old male, second place. And just for the record, there was a third place.
