Kinsale St. Patrick's Day 4-Miler

Yesterday, after arriving home from OU around 3:30, Ben and I changed into our running clothes and headed out at 4:00 for a four mile race that we had already signed up for before Maria qualified for the spelling bee.  If she had moved on to Round 5 after the lunch break, we would not have made it back in time to race, but it would have been so worth it if she had made it that far!

I had been a little nervous about this race for several reasons.  The main reason was that I was worried about getting back in time to get there and get a good parking place so we didn't have to walk a long way to the car.  But I was also concerned about eating out for the 24 hours before the race, about not being in complete control of what and when I ate and drank in the hours before the race, and I was also worried that my legs would not be ready after sitting in the car for two hours prior.  I wanted to beat my 4 mile PR from last year, which was 39'24" with an average of 9'51" per mile.  Ben kept telling me I could easily beat it with all of the training I have been doing for my half marathon.  I was skeptical, as I have not had much success at keeping miles under 9'51" when I run around here, and never have strung together 4 miles at that pace.

The weather was perfect - a little cold while we were standing around waiting for the race to start, but a cool 50 degrees with a light breeze was perfect once we got running.  There were 1100 people registered for this race, and boy was it crowded.  I started a little behind the 10'00" pacers, and easily passed them in the first mile.  I just ran what felt good, and then looked at my watch and realized I was running about 9'40".  It was then that I decided to keep all of my miles under 9'51" which would mean that I would be able to beat my time from last year.  After the first 1.5 miles, the course heads onto the cart path of a golf course, which makes passing people a little more difficult.  But I just kept my pace, and when I got behind people that slowed me down, I found a way to pass them.  I got passed, too, but I did more passing then getting passed.  When we headed into the last mile, I knew I was going to be able to do it.  All of my miles had been well under 9'51" and I still felt pretty good.  When I was heading for the finish line, I saw Ben and DMC-er Brandon B. cheering me on, and that inspired me to sprint to the finish line.  I have never had enough energy to sprint to the finish line.  I felt so good after hits race I was starting to wonder if maybe I could have gone faster.

But I can't complain.  I ran a great race - I was shocked at how fast I ran and how good I felt during most of it.  My final time was 38'13", a pace of 9'34".  Over a minute better than last year's time.  I came in 429/981 runners.  This training is definitely paying off.

Ben also had an incredible race.  He wanted to beat his time from last year as well, and ended up coming in 9th place out of 981 runners!  His time was 25'37" which is an average of 6'25".  He also beat last year's time by over a minute.  Definitely a great day for us!