Today's Charlottesville 10 Miler is IN THE BOOKS.
The next time I won't look at the elevation map. Sheesh. Was this a foot race or a trek to Mount Everest?
Here I am running about mid-pack and you can see that the runners ahead of me extend far into the distance. Love big races!
The course took us through the University of Virginia (designed by Thomas Jefferson).
It also went through downtown Charlottesville and its lovely brick-paved pedestrian area.
Here I have only about a half mile to go. I'm trying to reel in this couple.
It was a glorious day and a race I will not soon forget. My guess is you've already figured out that I didn't win. Oh well. Maybe next time. But I did get a PR in the 10 Mile distance.
The last time I did this was at the Virginia 10 Miler in Lynchburg.
That was a hot day, however. Today was cold and windy. I think the reason I ran faster was because I just wanted to get warm.
Let's see ... is there is anything I need to add? This was by far one of the most enjoyable races I've ever been in. Running through the heart of a big city never gets old. My race "strategy" was to simply go out at a comfortable pace, find my rhythm, then settle in and run at that pace for the entire race. I didn't look at my watch once. I didn't need to. I was running completely by FEEL. You have to know your body really well in order to be able to do this. What I'll remember most from this race was the way I was able to maintain the same effort whether going uphill or down. I've been practicing this for the longest time and it's nice to see my training beginning to bear some fruit. The most important thing was to keep moving forward. Hence, this race proved to me once again how much running is like life.
Thanks for joining me on the journey, guys.