Today's event stats: Division Place 460/2331(19.7%) Gender Place 159/2733 (5.8%) Age Place 31/322 (9.6%) Start Time 08:02:23 5.5 Mile 00:46:34 Elapsed 01:51:19 Pace: 8:29 So, I thought I developed either shin splints or a stress fracture about 5 weeks before this race. I took 3 weeks off to recover -- cross-training, including some aqua jogging -- which left only 2 weeks of real running before race day. She.is.Beautiful was my first run back. And, after experiencing little pain from that event, I slowly eased myself back to running training. Not wanting to re-injure myself, I took it slow. I did more aqua jogging to replace one of my weekly runs, and opted to run on the treadmill instead of the street when I wasn't running with Jenny. I also kept my pace fairly slow and my mileage down. Then, I realized I miscalculated how many training weekends I had left! So, my longest run turned out to be just under 6 miles (whereas I had planned my last run to be 8-10), just one week before event day. On that day, I actually did 2 runs; I ran about 4.5 miles with Jenny (hills in our 'hood) and then later in the evening, I went out with Thing 3 in the stroller for another 5+ mile run. During the rest of the week, I focused on 45-60 min. cross-train sessions on the bike and the elliptical and did a 5-miler with Jenny on Thursday. I hoped that this training would be sufficient to pull me through. Quite surprisingly, Jenny decided she was going to run with me--not the entire course, but from Woodrow, through Wilder, and back to Woodrow. Our estimate of that loop being 10 miles was dead-on! I was worried she would not be happy about the hills (her longest training run was also just under 6 miles), so I emailed her to warn her about them. Turns out, they were nothing to her. She never ceases to amaze me and I feel so fortunate to have her as a running partner!! Jenny is an incredibly strong athlete, and I worked hard to keep her pace! She was especially impressive on the hills; where I would have happily slowed down, she pushed me to keep up. We made it up the hill at mile 8-9 panting but, miraculously, I felt relatively strong. We managed to maintain about an 8:30 for the entire race. I wasn't sure how I'd fare when she peeled off at Woodrow. By then, I was beat, having worked so hard to maintain pace with her, but by then, I also knew that getting a new PR was within reach. There were 2 factors that I felt would affect it--my initial pace from start to Woodrow (I had no idea how fast I was going when I met up with her) and how much I would slow down after she left. As we parted, she coached me to try to keep up with this gal with a braid and a pink shirt ... and I did just that. I never caught the girl, but I did try to close the gap. It was definitely good advice that helped keep me going! I wasn't even sure I'd have anything left in me to sprint at the end, but being so close to a new PR, I urged my legs to keep on going. As it turns out, I got my fastest recorded pace, but I missed last year's rock 'n' roll half PR by a mere 4 seconds (my pace for this run was actually 8:29.85 so truly, rounded, it was an 8:30 pace)! It kills me that missing my old PR by 4 seconds is among the strongest of my lingering thoughts on the event. After all, I nearly got a new PR on what I considered to be "sub-par" training and I had started out thinking I would be happy finishing in 2:10 or just getting anywhere below a sub-2:00. In fact, I started the run with the 2:00 pacer. And, I had the company of a very dear friend. But, the 4 seconds irks me. What if I didn't get that last cup of water? What if I pushed myself harder just a few yards earlier?? What if I had tried passing just 1 more person?? Overall, though, it was such an amazing run for Jenny's company and inspiration. We'll get the PR next time. I'm certainly feeling like I should be able to beat last year's Rock 'n' Roll. A., by the way, killed it with a 7:11 pace in the 10K. He just pulled on his shoes and went!