Yesterday was a perfect day for a race with clear skies, 45 degrees, no wind and I was out with 4500 or so close friends in Allentown, PA, running the St. Luke's Half Marathon.
I had a first class fun run if not a very fast one. In my VFF's (and did see one other fella in a pair) I went out fast, for me anyway, running with the 1:50 pacer for the first 5 miles and hitting 10 miles about 6 minutes ahead of my PR. Then my skimping on training miles started to tell and I had to stop and stretch my calfs at 12 miles. I finished 998th overall and about 40th in my age group - there are a lot of fast 50 somethings around here! My time was 1:54:59, for a pace of 8:50/mile. I'm delighted! My only day-after aches are in my calfs, no surprise. I'll be out for a few miles easy running tomorrow to work out some kinks.
No more races until a 15K trail race in July, which should be a blast and another PR, as I've never run that distance before, either.
I had a first class fun run if not a very fast one. In my VFF's (and did see one other fella in a pair) I went out fast, for me anyway, running with the 1:50 pacer for the first 5 miles and hitting 10 miles about 6 minutes ahead of my PR. Then my skimping on training miles started to tell and I had to stop and stretch my calfs at 12 miles. I finished 998th overall and about 40th in my age group - there are a lot of fast 50 somethings around here! My time was 1:54:59, for a pace of 8:50/mile. I'm delighted! My only day-after aches are in my calfs, no surprise. I'll be out for a few miles easy running tomorrow to work out some kinks.
No more races until a 15K trail race in July, which should be a blast and another PR, as I've never run that distance before, either.
