Mississippi 10 Mile

I keep forgetting to write this recap. Which is kind of sad since it's probably the best race I've done in years.

First off you couldn't have asked for better weather. For once it wasn't snowing, or raining, or windy, or fill in the blank with whatever nasty weather we've had lately. It was overcast and about 55 degrees.

I've been having some hamstring strain issues so I've been taking it really easy, just running a few days a week and trying not to push it too much. I definitely felt it the whole race but it was just annoying, nothing that made me slow down any.

Time : 1:27.44 for an official PR by just under 5 minutes!!! I was pretty pumped. The last 5 km was a bitch, and it hurt really bad. But let me back up a minute.....

Right around the 3 or 4 mile mark I found myself running with these two guys that knew each other. Jeff and Pat were both coaches in Burnsville. Jeff was the head coach for track and cross country, and I believe Pat was a volunteer coach for him. Really nice guys, we ran and chatted with each other the rest of the way to the finish. Every mile split we were hitting like clockwork, 8:54, 9:02, 8:46, 8:47, 8:50, 8:50, 8:54, 8:36, 8:30, and 7:48. By the way I love my Garmin! I have never really cared much about pacing in past, I just go on feel. But it really is nice to see my pace every mile. I'm not one to look at it much more than just every mile, so I was happy to keep such a steady pace without even really having to work at it.
So those last 3 miles I really tried to push the pace, I was pretty tired by that point but I just focused and tried to stay mentally tough. I really don't think I could have done it without Jeff and Pat. We ended up getting ahead of Pat a little bit but Jeff was my hero that day. That last mile felt so long and all I wanted to do was slow down but Jeff kept push me to stay at his side. He kept telling me to focus on the next person in front of us, and to keep breathing, and to stay at his side, etc. I just kept thinking this guy is a coach, he knows what he's saying, and don't let him down. I was able to stay with him and ended up out sprinting another girl to the finish. It was awesome! I can't say enough nice things about those two strangers that treated me like a friend. I owe every bit of that PR to Jeff and Pat. I really wanted to hug them both after the race but I thought they might think I was weird, so I just kept thanking them over and over.
It was a great day!
So with that race my MDRA Spring Series is over and I ended up getting 3rd place overall (women) which means I get $50!! Which means I basically spent $5 to run 6 races, join the MDRA, and get a tech shirt! Awesome, I'd say I got my moneys worth! :)

So tomorrow I'm racing a Half Ironman distance triathlon relay. I'm the running leg which means I get to race a half marathon. Can't wait! Hoping for another PR. Which shouldn't be too hard since I'm technically only race 2 half marathons (other than during a marathon.)