Runnin of the Green Lucky 7k 2012

Every year I tell myself I remember how difficult this race is, and every year it still manages to kick my butt.

I will admit, I've had some difficulty finding my speed this year. I've run two races (granted, a week apart, which was probably not the smartest plan of action), and while I managed to hit my goals both times, I had to fight for every minute. Just under 2 hours for a half marathon, and just under 90 minutes for a 10-miler. I'm happy with those times, but each was 10 minutes slower than my PRs at those distances. However, I had high hopes that I'd be able to turn in a fast 7k race--at least, run at a faster pace than I had for the half marathon or the 10-miler. After all, this was a much shorter distance, right?

My goal was to keep myself at an 8-minute pace. This would be a full minute per mile faster than either race I'd yet run this year, a not-impossible goal I thought for 4.3 miles. And my first mile was that fast--8:01. But my second mile, which is all uphill, was 8:43. So much for my time goal. I made up a bit of time on mile 3, though. At 7:47, that was my fastest mile (once again, this was a "Metallica Mile" as my iPod played "All Nightmare Long at this crucial juncture). Mile 4, however, at 8:49, was my slowest full mile (sadly, the final .3 miles were my slowest of the entire race, run at 9:10 pace).

So, in the end, what was supposed to be an 8-minute average pace slowed to 8:25. Again, not terrible: still more than 30 seconds per mile faster than either the Ralston Creek Half or the Snowman Stampede 10. But, again, this race was much shorter than either of those. I'm not thrilled with it for that reason. I know I'm faster than I have been this year. I need to figure out where my speed is.

But enough about me. This race was exciting because it was the first race for the 2012 Runner's Roost Racing Team, of which once again I am humbled and honored to be a member. With close to 60 of us toeing the line, it was hard not to feel motivated and inspired to run fast. HUGE congratulations are due to everyone on the team who ran, especially Keith Solverson who took home the win. The new uniforms by Nike look great, too!

Next up for me is...well, I don't have an answer for that yet. Theoretically my next race is the Casper Wyoming marathon on June 3 (although I have yet to sign up for it, I've made my hotel reservation and arranged to have an understudy for one night of The Edge Theatre's "A View From the Bridge"). I'm sure I'll find a shorter distance race between now and then, but I don't know what it may be.

Official Time: 37:04
YTD Race Miles: 17.4
YTD Total Miles: 249.3
Olympic Quality: The first female finisher was none other than the 2008 Olympic Women's Marathon gold medalist, Constantina Dita!