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Sunday, April 10, 2011

Tar Heel 10 Miler

Last week was the first week in my training where I slacked off and didn't stick to it.

I'm blaming this on a change in my routine. I don't really deal with change well, even though my current change in jobs and routine has been for the best and exactly what I want it to be. I think I just had a hard time balancing life and my training. Prior to my new job, I would work until 6:30ish or 7 and then run asap afterward. Now that I have more time in my day, I get distracted with errands or other opportunities that take away from running.

This week I will do much better! And from here on out! I guess we all have lapses in our training, and I'm glad I realized it and am back on track :)

This past Saturday I ran the Tar Heel 10 Miler in Chapel Hill with my running buddy Stacey. It was sooooo much fun! Such a great course, the event was put together perfectly, I had my lucky running charm to chit chat with, and it was in Chapel Hill, my stomping grounds :)

Stacey and I car pooled and made it to the starting line a little after 7am. The race was to begin at 7:30am. Once we settled into our pace group at the starting line, I noticed I forgot my iPod in the car! I honestly didn't even care. The excitement of the event and entertainment of runners helped alleviate what would be silence and kept me quite occupied. Stacey and I also chit-chatted during the first 8 miles so I was fine! I almost preferred it that way. It was so nice to be running the last 2 miles and be completely in tune with my body, listening to my breathing pattern and feet hitting the pavement. It was an empowering feeling.

Mile 8.5ish had the biggest hill. It was called the "Laurel Hill Challenge" because it was so steep and meant to be quite the challenge. Stacey and I did a great job pacing ourselves throughout the race, plus we're used to running these hills in Chapel Hill all the time that we were cruising past a few other racers as they walked up the hill.

Once Laurel Hill was over, we booked it to the finish line. This is my favorite part about long runs. I love pacing myself and saving energy for those last 2 miles where I can give it all I have at the end. It felt great to be flying down Stadium Drive to the finish line!

The event itself was sooooo much fun! Everyone received medals after they crossed the finish line, lots of Gatorade and refreshments were waiting for us, which we couldn't even fathom putting into our body after crossing the finish line. Thank goodness I felt a lot better once we made it to the pancake party and I devoured my portion. Yuummmmm!!!

I highly recommend you guys give this race a try next year! It was so much fun!

See how much fun I had???


One too many endorphins going on in the above pic!


Sup bib...



I ran the race in 1:36:05 with an average pace of 9:37. Not too shabby! The race chip did a separate split for the Laurel Hill Challenge, which I ran at an 8:16 pace. Yay!!

Overall, it was a great weekend! Can't wait for the half-marathon next weekend!!

2 comments:

  1. That was quite the jump. Your getting faster everyday

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  2. nice race!! I love when everything just "clicks" before, during and after a race. Seems like you're ready and going to rock your half next weekend :)

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