Looking back through my blog, I can't believe my last post was from the Merge 25k! I didn't slow down much from March, and last weekend I ran my last race of spring: the Tar Heel 10 Miler!
The 10 Miler was the first race I trained for and ran last year, and where I first fell in love with running. After running all over the Triangle with my running group and completing several other races in the last year, I forgot just how much fun this race is. You are constantly surrounded by other runners and cheerleaders on the sidelines (no long lonely stretches like the marathon), and there is no place more beautiful to run than UNC's campus in the spring...although I may be a little biased ;)
Last year, I ran the course extremely fast (for me!). I knew this year I'd be a lot slower since I've been increasing my distance and slacked off on my training in the last few weeks before the race. I opted to stick with my running group buddies throughout the race rather than try to kill myself to PR. In the end, they kept me at a way faster pace than I would've been able to do alone. I finished just under 1:48, only 12 minutes slower than last year!
The course was tougher than I remembered (thanks Laurel Hill), but there's nothing better than running around my alma mater and finishing in Kenan Stadium with 3,000 other runners. I'll definitely be returning to do this race again in 2015, and maybe I'll try then for a PR :)
^^ This is where we finish, gorgeous!
^^ Couldn't help but laugh when I saw this candid shot Eric took. Obviously, we cared about nothing else but water after the finish
^^ Happy poopskateers / Fleet Feet marathoners