Saturday LR

I had a girls night out planned for Friday and thought there would be no way in hell I'd be running on Saturday. However, plans changed and a much more toned down version was planned...that could be the subject of a whole other post! But yes, I did have a yummy frosty adult beverage....did I mention it was yummy?



I actually made it to the park at 5 am for the 1/2 marathon group's LR. We ran the 11 mile GRB route. I only ran this route once while training for Chicago, so it was nice to run it again...the rose garden was starting to get old. Again, I found myself at the front of the 5/1 pack...very surprising considering that I was a back of the pack gal with the fall group! I was beginning to think I would be running alone when I finally caught up with some slightly faster 5/1s. I met Kate, Barb and Garreth, and Barbara from my LR 2 weeks ago was also in this group. I really enjoyed meeting this group of folks! Turns out that Barb and I both attended A&M (Gig'em!), both started running the same year (for the same reason), and we both had daughters 2 years ago (2 weeks apart)! Kate is an assistant coach and did a great job of directing everyone through the lights downtown.

I felt great and headed out at what felt like a great pace. Everything clicked from the beginning, which was nice for a change. Usually it takes a couple of miles for me to really feel good. I forgot to start my watch, so I have no idea of our speed getting to the GRB. I did start my watch when we touched the wall and turned around. My return time was 1:03 and some change...Garreth ended up speeding up at the end and finished in 2:06. He said we finished about 2 minutes after him, so I think our time should be close to 2:08. If that's the case, that would be my 1st negative split in a LONG time! Overall, I'm not that happy with my pace. I know I am capable of doing better, but I really felt as if I was running as fast as I could - especially toward the end. This pace would put me at a 2:32 1/2 marathon. I haven't really determined my goal for the race, but I was thinking more along the lines of 2:20 - 2:23....I don't know if that's realistic, but we'll see!

Afterwards, I went to pick up the kiddo at my parents. The hubby had a fishing tournament, so we had a girls day out. Nothing too exciting, just grocery shopping and lunch, but still fun. Tomorrow, we're going to head over to the 25K to cheer for my fellow Fit-ers and HRBs, then we're off to the zoo! Unfortunately, I'll have to head to school after that for some group project work...only 4 weeks left 'till the end of the semester!

Good luck to everyone running the 25K tomorrow!