Anyway, after a prediction of 5-8 inches of snow Friday night/Saturday, here in the Pittsburgh area we just got about an inch or two. I know that in Cleveland and around I-80 they got it more, but it's funny how we keep getting lucky and missing the big snow.
This morning Beth and I did a race up at North Park. There some uncertainty on Saturday as to whether or not we'd have it today, but the Allegheny County Parks Department did a good job of getting the roads ready. It was a smaller race, but a good one to start the year with. The course was a 5 mile loop called the "lodge loop" on the upper edge of North Park. It consisted of the first two miles being rolling and then a sizeable down hill. Then rolling again before a HUGE uphill for the last 0.7 miles of the race (we know it's 0.7 because we clocked it on our odometer up to the start of the race).
So, I'm definitely not in cross country shape, but I have been running with the indoor track guys and swimming 1 or 2 times a week. But, I didn't know what to expect. I figured go out in 6:15-ish pace and see what happens from there (especially with that last hill!).
So, here are my splits. Check out that split for the final mile due to the huge hill! (Beth had similar issues with the hill at the end, too)
Mile 1 - 6:24 (a little icy in spots and you had to weave back and forth on the road to find a clear "groove")
Mile 2 - 6:06 (more down than up and less icy)
Mile 3 - 6:12 (very happy with this one as I made up ground on people; clear main road for this mile)
Mile 4 - 6:40 (a little hill to slow me down plus I wanted to make sure I had enough left for the BIG hill).
Mile 5 - 7:14 (big hill...that's all I need to say about that)
So, I ended up 32:36 and 6:31 pace (6:20 pace before that last hill) for 7th place overall (it WAS a small race--about 200 people) and 1st in the 30-39 age group (39!!! I'm getting OLD!!). Beth was right behind me was was the second overall female. She really liked the race shirt with the colorful running snowflakes. Heather from where I teach also came and she did a good job as she's laying a great foundation for her first marathon this May in Pittsburgh.
With us having the race this morning, we were obviously not at church. But to make up when we're away on a Sunday for races (just for a week, not a permanent thing!), we like to listen to a message from the Hillsong Church in Australia via podcasts. It's neat to hear the perspective and message from someone in a different country (and also Brian Houston's accent). The message that we downloaded was about being "predictably unpredictable." His main point was that we shouldn't get too comfortable in our lives, but rather have the flexibility to allow God to work through us and in our lives. That's something I definitely need to work on as I like things to be organized and always have things work out how I expect them to.
Alright, time to watch the second half of the Steelers' game and then do some grading I've been putting off all weekend.
5 comments:
Good job today!! I still want to see everyone's splits from that last mile - I'm thinking you might have had the fastest! :)
CONGRATS! To both you & Beth. You did AWESOME! I almost came and ran that race today .... just so I could meet Beth in person (and talk to you again). But decided that I better choose church instead. But I like your alternative. That's a good idea. Congratulations again.
Congrats on a good race. That hill sounds awful.
Dude, nice job at the 5 miler and congrats on winning you AG. That last hill is a doozie! Also glad the Steelers won!
Congratulations on the AG win! Don't worry, I'm not too far behind you on the getting old. Man, the two of you are smokin'! I didn't know Beth was going to do Pgh. I was so tempted when she told me they brought it back. Are you going to run it too?
Make sure you tell me when the new Steelers Super Bowl song it out!
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