- As mentioned, we ran up Cricket Hill not once but twice - once at the beginning and once at the end.
- Last year I ran the race while training for the Wisconsin Half Marathon. And my pace of just under a 10 min mile was right where I wanted to be (even if that didn't pan out during my half, but that's another story). This year I'm not really 'training' for anything. I might run the Cleveland Half Marathon. I didn't really have a goal pace, just to go out and run.
- Last year I ran with a friend from marathon training. This year I ran with multiple friends from marathon training.
- One of the said friends had just had a birthday, and we made a sign and posted it along the course. We missed it on the way out, but on the way back in we saw it and it was totally fun to go by and say happy birthday to her in the middle of a race.
- The second time up Cricket Hill, 9+ miles into a race isn't fun. It nearly killed me.
- Despite that, I took more than a minute off my 10 mile PR so YEAH for me.
But this means that (a) I should be able to run a 10 minute pace if not faster half marathon - but why can't I seem to do that? And (b) that I really should start doing more weight and speed training. I need a coach - even a virtual coach.
It was a fun race, I saw lots of friends, I earned another medal and shirt and spent a couple of hours outside on Saturday morning. What could be better?
Next up - Shamrock Shuffle (?) Chi-Town Half (?) - Both questions marks because I have signed up for neither.