James Joyce Ramble 10k

Freaky 80 degree weather for April was the tone of this race. I kept the demons at bay all morning long. They were saying things like "you are going to die out there", "you should not go for a PR today", "remember how you bonked in the heat at Chicago".

I decided to stay out of the sunlight for as long as possible and show up at the race with just enough time to do my warm up and say high to my running club teammates at http://www.greaternorwoodrunningclub.org/. That went well until they gave me crap for not wearing the club singlet. I was so preoccupied with slaying the demons and figuring out what to wear I completely forgot about the singlet. I'm pretty sure they have forgiven me.

The day was not the perfect day for a PR but I still wanted to try for a PR since my running has been going so well. I wanted to break 42 minutes. I went out at a fast pace (6:35) and ended up not as fast.. It's a moderately hilly course with one huge hill right smack in the middle. Bastard! The heat eventually caught up to me so I ended up with splits that went something like this: 6:35, 6:40, 6:45, 6:58, 7:04, 6:58, .. My total time was 43:13.. 6:55 pace. This got me first in my age group, http://www.coolrunning.com/results/09/ma/Apr26_26thEd_set4.shtml which... I think.. correlates to $500 in the mail. They have in the past given out this much money to masters at all of their past races. One of the most generous races I have even been to.

To top it off, they give out this awesome free beer. I had three in the blaring sun with no food cept for a bowl of oatmeal. It's a tradition... I paid dearly. Not the best way to recover but who can resist a good band and good beer after a race on a hot hot day. It was blissful..