game day, race day, pain day

This morning I woke up early(well, for a Sunday 8 am is early to me) and took a train to meet Elizabeth--who goes to DIS with me--and her family. To recap, two weeks ago Elizabeth called and asked if I wanted to run in a 10 K because her family had an extra ticket. She caught me just after I woke up that day, and in my vulnerable state I agreed. So today was the day of reckoning.

Looking outside at the blanket of clouds, I forced myself to get up, throw on spandex, and walk to the metro. She gave me rough instructions, and I found my way to the right train tracks downtown. It was about 45 minutes total to get out to the correct stop, where her uncle picked me up. Elizabeth, her uncle, and her two cousins. Her cousins were very cute, even though I didn't understand much of what they were saying. Within 10 minutes we were at the race site, where we had plenty of time to contemplate the lovely race ahead.

Elizabeth just started running this summer, so this was her longest run ever. A 10 K is equivalent to 6.25 miles. My last race was 5 weeks ago when I did the Bradbury Mountain 10-mile trail race, which is hardest run that I've done to date. After that I took 2 weeksish of cross-training only, and therefore I've only been back running for less than three weeks. I have done no speed-work, so my expectations weren't to high going into the race.

The first 2 ks were uphill; it wasn't horribly steep but definitely not flat. I had to maneuver my way to the side in order to pass at the beginning, but after that I had no major problems. It was bit a bit windy, but the temperature was ideal/the rain held off. The course was quite beautiful. We were running in the countryside. I paced myself off a soccer player, and ended up with a decent time of 48 minutes( approx 7:40 mile pace). I'm not thrilled, but it's nice to know that I can pull of that pace just a few weeks back. As I tell my friend Sam, it's all about muscle memory.

I'm sorry if I'm boring all the non-runners.

When I got back I made lentil soup. This weekend I have cooked some good things. I made pizza on Friday with autumn roasted vegetables on top. Last night I made toll-house cookies to give to Elizabeth family, which I forgot in my room so I have to do that tomorrow. I have gearing up for another week. I have a full schedule, like always. Tonight I will do some more reading, and then attempt to start my take-home econ project.