For the second straight year, I set a new 10-mile personal best at the Lighthouse Run. Once again, I ran most of the race with my friend, Mark. Once again, Mark had a little bit more energy left at the finish, so he came in 20-30 seconds ahead of me. In any case, it was a great race for both of us.
The weather was overcast and in the mid-60s at the start -- the most comfortable conditions for the Lighthouse Run since I first ran it in 2005. Even though I haven't gone more than five miles at a time since April 26, I felt pretty confident that I could run a good race. I planned to break 80 minutes.
I ran a solid first half. I kept my pace just under eight minutes a mile. There were lots of friends and family on the course to keep me energized. I saw Jenelle, Heather (Mark's wife), and Caleb (Mark's son) shortly after the start. A few blocks further down the road, I saw my parents and grandparents. At mile 4, I saw Aunt Lisa and cousin Rachel. At mile 5, I saw Aunt Sue, who once again gave me a bottle of water. It would last me the entire race.
After mile 7, Mark and I took a walk break to gather up our strength for the final three miles. I started to tire, but only a little bit. Mark eased ahead, and I encouraged him to push for the finish. I managed to keep the splits just over eight minutes.
As I neared the finish, I knew that I would easily break 80 minutes. I picked up speed a little bit in the final 100 meters, but it definitely wasn't an all-out sprint. I crossed the line in about 1:19:20.1. Mark finished in an impressive 1:18:34.2. Nice work, buddy.
The mile splits, according to my Garmin, are as follows:
7:51, 7:55, 7:57, 7:56, 7:49, 7:57, 7:58, 8:01, 8:03, 7:53
1 comment:
Sounds like fun! Congratulations! Looks like a little time off was good for you.
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