« wadsworth falls, a new running partner, and another race! | Main | recovery »
July 04, 2005
4 on the 4th
this morning i ran in another road race (The chester four on the fourth). my nephew (who's an up & coming miler in his own circle!!) also ran the race.
the race was held in, chester, ct, a "storybook" new england small town located right on the connecticut river. the race started in the town center (which is a throw back to yester years)--the setting-cottages, store fronts (stores),colonial homes, jennings pond--(located centrally in the downtown "district") and the live music on the porch of the downtown center hall building helped to create an atmosphere that was classic all american and that could be anytime in our US history--which seemed kind of appropriate for the 4th of july.
my nephew and i warmed up for 2 miles and then headed to the starting line (starts at the town flag). the course was very hilly. (hillier than sunday's race!). the only mile mark/split that i heard was at mile 3 (18:51). during the race i actually felt really strong. my nephew was running up ahead of me the entire time so i tried to stay focused on him. the roads were so beautiful. for the most part the course was shaded. the streets were narrow and the scenary consisted of old colonial homes, ponds, forests and then of course the start, mile 3 and finish all ran right through the center of town...where it seemed like hundreds of people were cheering us on...with all their hearts and might! everyone was so loud. i don't know if i have ever heard louder cheers personally in a race. the small, cozy, peaceful setting probably accenuated the tunnel of cheers that enveloped us every time we ran via the center of town.
i felt pretty good during the race. better than i thought. about 500 meters into the race i noticed that i was already running in the top 25 overall and i was the top woman. so i ran to win the event. the course was rolling the entire way. a few hills i literally felt like i was crawling up but most of them i felt very strong on and i felt like i could maintain my pace.
in the end i finished up 17th overall, 1st woman and the effort took 25:03 time-wise. my nephew finished 13th overall and his time was 24:24. after the race we ran another 3.5 miles or so easy to cool down.
Posted by liz at July 4, 2005 08:41 PM
Comments
Congratulations on your win! I hope you're enjoying being in CT in the summer!
Posted by: Alison at July 5, 2005 09:38 AM
hey, congratulations on your win and your kick ass time! you and your nephew make a powerful duo.
thanks for the comment on my blog (i assume that was you). i am going to try the negative split training run-though it is always all uphill on the way back home! i will have to experiment with some good local running locations to find something suitable.
again, congrats, and happy 4th to you.
Posted by: Audrey at July 5, 2005 02:21 PM
Congrats on your race! And congrats to your nephew as well! You guys truly are a one of a kind running family!
Posted by: Nanda at July 5, 2005 08:07 PM