The Great Stew Chase 15K, 2/3/08

I've never run this before, and only this week realized that it was today. I was scheduled for 9-10 anyway, as I'm building towards the New Bedford Half in mid-March, it was local; really, no reason why I shouldn't run this race. It’s a mildly undulating out-and-back course with a “memorable hill” in the middle, just before the turnaround.<br><br>
Tough beginning for me, as both kids were sick last night - one throwing up in the middle of the night and the other alternating nursing non-stop with arching her back in canine-teething pain.<br><br>
I was unsure of how to pace myself. I ran an 8 miler in the snow last week, with 25 mph winds, and averaged 9:15. A friend thought I should shoot for 8:30s, and I thought I'd probably be around 8:45-9:00. But I really wasn't sure. I hoped for anything under 9.<br><br>
I turned off the GPS feature of the garmin and just used the lap feature, so I didn't have to worry about matching up to the mile markers. Just before the race started I rummaged through the car, looking for mittens. Finding none, I did uncover a pair of babygap yellow socks, size 12-24 months. Sarah's socks, like ZuZu's petals. I smiled and locked up.<br><br>
Mile 1: 8:39<br><br>
Mile 2: 8:34<br><br>
The chill is off and I take off Sarah’s Socks. I stuff them in my sleeves but even this minor bulk bothers me, so I carry them. I can’t toss them. They’re Sarah’s Socks. How could I?<br><br>
Mile 3: 8:35<br><br>
The hills started here<br><br>
Mile 4: 9:07<br><br>
The "memorable" hill is mile 4.5-5.5<br><br>
Mile 5: 9:18<br><br>
I saw that mile 5 was 9:18 and thought that wasn't too bad since that was the worst hill. However, I didn't quite recover to my early pace:<br><br>
Mile 6: 9:06<br><br>
Mile 7: 8:54. I thought of Tonya. I thought of her first marathon report, where she wrote how she checked how she was feeling. "Nope. I felt like a million bucks," she wrote. I try to will myself to feel like a million bucks. I think about the report I might write.<br><br>
Mile 8: 9:01 ok, ok. So I'm not Tonya. I put Sarah’s socks back on.<br><br>
Mile 9: 9:11 I'm doing quick calcs in my head and realizing I'm going to come in under 9 average anyway. I'm happy!<br><br>
Mile 9.3: 2:30 – About 100 yards from the finish line my shoe comes untied. “No effing way,” I think to myself. There is no way I am stopping to tie this thing this close to the end. NOW I channel Tonya and book it, hard, to the finish.<br><br>
Total: 1:23:01 (my watch), 1:23:03 (their clock)<br>
Average: 8:56<br><br>
No complaints here. I was right-on in what I thought my pace would be. I don’t regret going out a little faster but wish I could have kept it up a bit more. I don’t think it’s that I can’t hold the pace itself – treadmill runs show me that I can keep pace. I think it’s a matter of forcing myself to do so – a concentrating error? I will try to work on that.<br><br>
With six weeks to go to the half, I think I’ll shoot for anything sub 9 average as well. McMillan’s calculator puts me at 9:07, but I think I can work with this.<br><br>
esg 2/3/08