I had hoped for rain - and I got it, up until about 10 minutes before the start. Then it cleared off and got sunny. Great weather for a race through the hills.
This is a small local race. One of the things I love about where we live is that in any given race some awesome talent might show up.
For example at the starting line I knew in order to keep from going out to hard, I should stay behind Heather Fuhr and Joey, my BSK teammate. They are both much faster than me and hanging with them at all would surely result in complete implosion later in the race.
Other than that I didn't really have much of a plan other than to run hard. I did not check my splits or wear a Garmin. I did keep an eye on my heart rate several times to make sure I was still alive, but that was about it. I like to race off how I feel.
Around mile 2 Katya Meyers flew past me, then Michellie Jones. I kept them in sight and figured maybe they would help pull me to a PR. I did not however, expect to ever pass either one of them.
Around mile 6 we ended up in a pack. Charisa with two pro triathletes. I think I have had dreams like this. Oh I take that back - I KNOW I have had dreams like this. The hills pulled me back to reality abruptly as Michellie seemed to just float up them with Katya in tow, while I was worried my oxygen debt might result in complete heart failure.
But I didn't get dropped. And at some point a pass took place. "Good job" was exchanged. And then I realized I really did not want to get re-passed.
The results tell the rest of the story. I got my PR, and I'm really happy with it.
The last two miles hurt like no other.
Steven took this picture in the last 1/4 mile.
A big congrats to Kin'dra, Becky and Jeff for setting new PRs as well! Here we all are with the Queen, who stands at mile 2 and cheers with her British flag, then parties with everyone after the race! Aren't small-town races just great!?
