Yet another race last weekend!

Although I think this one was a bit more low-key and a lot smaller thant he Celtic Solstice Five-Mile Run the previous day. Last Sunday (December 16, 2007) I ran in the Howard County Striders' Fall Weekly ("Legends of the Fall") Series #9 by Lake Elkhorn in Columbia, Maryland. I felt tired and a little sore from the five-mile race th previous day where I ran a couple minutes faster than I expected (hey, no complaints there). So at this event where there was a two-mile or a 10-kilometer (approximately 6.2-mile) race. I chose the two-mile, as it seemed more appropriate considering my present level of fitness and that I had run a race the previous day, and I thought that maybe if I could get it under 12:30 (surpassing the 12:36 I ran at the flat Turkey Trot Two-Mile Fun Run in Caroline County almost a month before), that that would be a realistic goal and nice achievement.
The race started out pretty nicely. I built into it and was catching up to the gentleman in first place, but then shortly after the one-mile park he seemed to pick it up (and I slowed a bit). I managed to go through the first mile in about 6:09 (not too shabby at all), and then come back the in about 6:16 for the second mile to finish the two-mile course in 12:25. All right, I hit my goal for that race, WHOOHOO :)

The course was pretty much all flat on shaded bike paths. There was one short, but steep hill a little before the one-mile turnaround point, but since it was out-and-back, runners got to go down it the second half of the race. I am familiar with this course and terrain, as I have run on these bike paths often for the past several years.

In the pictures above are photos of Lake Elkhorn and the one on the bottom left is of the bike paths that we run on, taken from the starting/finish line of both, the two-mile and 10K races.




Well, I'm gonna get a few more things done and get ready for work tomorrow. Tomorrow is the last day of public school in the Howard County Public School System before winter break and I'm lookin' forward to it. YES!!!! Aside from spending time with my friends and family, I hope to use the extra time to run some more miles and get my endurance base up a bit more. Thank you all for reading and I apologize to those of you who eagerly keep up with these blogs for not updating sooner! Have a good night!