A Running Tally, pt. 3

First and foremost, I would like to announce that I successfully completed an 8k (5 mile) race! On the internet, there is photographic evidence to prove this! I am not posting it here for two reasons: a) the photographer is some kind of Flash genius and made it difficult to obtain the photo without paying a $55 download fee and b) It's probably the most atrocious photo ever taken of me.

Race details:

• 6/5/2010: Scott Coffee Moorestown Rotary 8K, Moorestown, NJ
• Time: 43:14.39 / 8:42 minute miles (My actual time was under 43 but they haven't released the chip times yet. I was too exhausted when I crossed the finish line to stop my stopwatch!)
• Course conditions: A few low downhill spots in the beginning, mostly flat, a few inclines at the end -- nothing too extreme either way. We ran through the town of Moorestown for "Moorestown Day", so the entire course was on road pavement.
• Weather conditions: Very muggy and hot. Some citizens watching the race were kind enough to squirt us with hoses en route.
• Ran with: Matt and some of his Back on My Feet friends
• Additional comments: 
• I've found that a nice strategy is to kind a person running a pace close to mine, and hang behind this person for the duration of the race. In this case, it ended up being Matt's friend Abby. Once we got to about the mile mark, I decided that my main goal was to beat her in the race.
• Again, I had too much energy left at the end and was basically able to sprint 0.25 miles.  I need to work on pacing myself better throughout the race.  I'll cut myself some slack this time, since this was only my first 5 miler (and I think only the second time I've ever run 5 miles in a row!)

Upcoming race update:

• 7/17/2010: Rockville Rotary Twilight Runfest 2010 (8k), Rockville, MD
• Running with Lauren and some of her co-workers during my visit to D.C.!
• NEW: Now Phill is joining us too! We're making the trip to D.C. together
• 7/31/2010: Run for Roch 5k, Mt. Washington
• 8/28/2010: Run Around The Square 5k, Regent Square
• My co-worker Lauren is interested in participating with me
• 9/26/2010: Pittsburgh Great Race 10k, Frick Park to downtown
• I think Joe has been convinced to sign up, so hopefully I'll be running with him!