Law Week 8K Race - Plus This Day Last Year (TDLY)

8k (4.97 miles), 33:43, 6:41 pace, Max HR = 174, Avg HR = 162, Cadence = 89

I had a good time at this race. Because I've had a hard week of running, and because I'm scheduled for 22 miles tomorrow, I treated this run as a tempo run instead of a race. It takes the pressure off of running a personal record, and because of that I can enjoy myself a bit more.

By now I'm becoming familiar with the course . . . down Allen Parkway to Shepherd and back toward downtown. But Shon, my buddy from the Dynegy Running Club, pointed out something I've never seen before: the blue line. The blue line is painted along the marathon course and represents the route by which the official measurement is taken. I'd always heard about it, but I thought it was symbolic and not an actual line.

Mile 1 - 6:24
Julie Cheered me on here, and Shon and I run alongside two guys that are in over their heads with the pace they're keeping. Shon and I know it, but I don't think they knew it.
Mile 2 - 6:42
I grab some water during this stretch. It's hot and humid, or else I wouldn't stop for water in such a short race. I see the leaders on their way back and cheer for they guys I know.
Mile 3 - 6:46
The turnaround point is a police officer on a bicycle. Interesting that they didn't use an orange cone or something else.
Mile 4 - 7:11
"The mountains of Allen". Allen Parkway has some underpasses that act as a proxy for "eleveation" in Houston. They aren't particularly tough, but they come at mile 22-24 of the marathon route, so they are often dreaded. At this distance they don't cause me much concern.
Mile 4.97 - 6:41
Shon and I make a push to the end and cross the finish line in style, with a sub-7 minute mile and a good kick at the end.

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I thought it would be a cool idea to list my run from "This Day Last Year" - TDLY. I'll do this for a while at least to see how much trouble it is. I'm starting today because this is my first run ever recorded by my Garmin.
2.02 miles all out run, 16:09, 7:59 Pace, Max HR = 180, Avg HR = 166