Spoiler Alert: I raced

After careful consideration, I decided not to race yesterday.  I had run hard on Wednesday and Thursday.  I have a very long day on Friday, which meant I was out of the house 14 hours, and didn't get to bed until almost midnight.  On top of that, I had agreed to go do some mountain training with my friends Saturday afternoon.  So, I decided racing Saturday morning was not a good idea.

Until....  I got to work Friday night and realized my co-workers all knew I had been planning to run.  My work team volunteers at that race and were expecting to see me.  So....

I raced.

There was a cool wind, but otherwise perfect temperature for racing.  I went in knowing that I wasn't feeling my strongest.  I knew my body was tired.  I didn't know the course, but I expected some hills.  So, I let go of my desire to PR.  I still wanted to come in sub-30 and thought that might be attainable.

The horn sounded and we were off and running.  Almost immediately, I realized that it would be a struggle.  My calves were burning a quarter mile in on a slight uphill section.  I knew my legs weren't into this.  I settled into a rhythm and felt ok.  Then, mile 2 came with some more uphills.  I struggled, but kept pushing.  Mile 1 and 2 were both 10min/miles.

I knew my work crew was coming up so I kept pushing hoping they would give me a boost.  They did and it was great to see them out there, but I was done.  My legs just wanted to stop.  I turned the corner off the trail and then was confronted with a hill that I forced my way up knowing that the finish line was just around the corner.  Mile 3 was my fastest with a 9:52.   When I got to the top and turned the corner, a crew of teammates was there, cheering me in.  That gave me a little boost and I finished strong.

Of course, I got passed in the last 100 meters by a woman pushing a double jogging stroller, but whatever.

My official time was 30:56.  Not the time I wanted, but I am still happy with my running right now.

After the race, I got to hang out with teammates and then went home, gathered my stuff for my next adventure of the day.