Running the Park to Park run

This was sheer determination to beat the lady running behind me. It was right at the end of the race when I was pushing the last energy I could muster.

Running a race is very invigorating. In practice, I generally wear heavier clothes. For the race, I wore my very light clothes. I can feel an ounce or two difference. At the start of this race, I felt like a feather. Having to wait for openings in the crowd in order for me to begin racing frustrated me. There were many people in front of us at the starting line. The 6:45 surprised me due to this very slow start.

I had plenty of rest and my muscles were mostly rested, but not as rested as some runners like them to be. My first mile was completed in 6 mins 45 secs. When they called out that time, the knowledge of that influenced me to slow down. I was expecting to run about 8.4 mins/mile. I did not look down at my personal timer. The second mile was similar, running much faster than I wished to run. I must have slowed quite a bit in the last two miles to end with an 8.1 mins/mile pace.

It was great to see the non-participating members of my family waiting at the finish line. By the time I cooled off, Jeff and Sarah had already crossed the finish line. I wanted to be there when they crossed, but a runner must go through a cool down process to allow the heart and circulatory system to return to normal without over stressing the system. I managed my heartbeat rate through the race and it remained relatively low compared to some practice days. The legs were the issue at the end of the race, because I had gone into a long stride sprint in the last 500 yards.