Pat's Run

I've been running to stay in shape and prepare for upcoming hunting seasons for as long as I can remember, but I've never been a serious runner who trains to run.  The 2009 hunting season found me huffing and puffing up the hills a little more than I would have liked.  Because of that, I started training harder and and doing more intense workouts since about December or January.  One thing I did was to start paying more attention to my running and to actually follow a plan.  An online buddy of mine, Arrowslinger, from various western hunting forums offered up a running program of running 3 times a week.  Two of those runs would be about 45 minute runs, with the third run being a longer run, starting at 45 minutes and incrementing up each week by 5 minutes, with a few weeks of holding steady after every 15 minutes or so added to the run.  I started this program sometime in January or February.  I've tried sticking with it every week, but I have missed a few weeks.  My last long run was for 1hr and 20 minutes.  My 'normal' run was about 4.4 miles and used to take me about 42 minutes or so.  Since doing my long runs my times have been steadily dropping on my normal 4.4 mile course.

Where does all this training take me?  Well, I figured with as hard as I've been training, and since fall hunting season is so far away, why not enter a race?  I've always wanted to run in Pat's Run, but had never seriously looked into it.  This year I took the step and entered the run.  With my family in tow to cheer me on, we arrived early to get a decent parking spot and get things figured out.

 

I got in my 'corral' early, and had to wait an extra 20 minutes or so past the official start time for the race to start.  This year's Pat's Run drew a record attendance; over 19,000 people finished the race.

I was feeling good, and felt like running, so I passed quite a few people early on without too many passing me.  At mile 1, I was running under a 7:30 pace according to my watch.  At mile 2, I was barely keeping that 7:30 pace.  At mile three, I was over a 7:30 pace, but under an 8:00 pace, and too tired to do the math in my head to figure it out exactly.  At mile four, I was just over an 8 minute pace.  I knew I had to pick it up the last .2 miles to make my goal of under 8 minute miles.  I was luckily able to do it, and finished the race with an official time of 33:30, beating my goal by 1 sec with a 7:59 mile pace.  Glad to be done, I caught up with my family to enjoy the festivities and check out some of the attractions.