Steven had a nice single speed for cruising around the course to take pictures this morning.
After a week of 5+ inches of rain, the weather was great for racing. I did not have a big race strategy, other than to go out strong, negative split and after mile 10 try to go harder. My goal was to go under 1:25 and try to make it into the top 5 women ($ goes 5 deep and I want a Garmin).I don't look at pace or splits when I race, so my only indicator is heart rate. My heart rate monitor broke, so I got to just race off feel.
Between mile 1-4 I had a terrible side stitch. I didn't think I had gone out too hard and hadn't planned on any pain so early. Frustrating, but it probably helped me negative split. According to chip timing I did this by :10 per mile in the second half. This was fun.
My Mom and I at the finish.
1:25:01 was my final time - HAHA! Yeah, missed that sub-1:25 by a mere two seconds. 6th place female - missed that $ for the Garmin by :33. Hey - it's January, it will most definitely be a learning year right?! I'm happy with it. I've got a hillier and harder 1/2 marathon in 3 weeks where I can try again. And it was a :39 PR.
Race scenery.
