This morning I ran the Sound to Narrows 12k (7.46 miles.) I haven't ran this race before, and have only ran one 12k so far (back in December of 2006 - the 12ks of Christmas and had a chip time of 1:10.41) but I have ran this route (actually, it was slightly different - but I believe the actual race course wasn't as hard as the route I was training on) before during my half marathon training.

When I started this run, I didn't really give myself any time goals - other than to finish strong and not try to force myself to maintain an impossible pace - especially considering how difficult the course was because of the constant hills you were running up and down.

Imagine my elation when I saw the official finish times posted on the website:

Gun Time: 1:11.19
Chip Time: 1:10.33

So, yes - by 8 seconds - I beat my first 12k time and gave myself a new Personal Record.

The crazy part of this is that I have ran three races so far in 2009 - a half marathon, a 5k, and now a 12k - and with each race, I have set a new PR for myself.

I finished. Not sure of my finish time but I think that I did really well.

Now to find the bus home.

The finish area at Vassault Park.

I still have over an hour before the start. Currently, the military teams are finishing.

Time to leave. Running the Sound to Narrows 12k in about two hours.

One part of me says that I'm not ready, but then another part of me says that I just ran 13.1 miles on May 3rd, and trained using this race's route, so I should have no problem doing a 12k. I've only ran this race distance ones, and not on this specific course, so I don't really have any idea about how well I'm going to do.

As stated in a previous entry, my goal was to finish today's race somewhere between 27 and 28 minutes. And if that time doesn't happen, I would love to still post my best 5k time yet.

Like the last three years I've run this race, there are a TON of dogs. If I remember correctly, the organizers said there were about 1800 dogs at last year's running. That number might seem large on its own, but when you see that many dogs all together, it's even more enormous. Dogs of all shapes, sizes, ages, breeds and colors. Everywhere you look, there are dogs.

Today's running will be my fourth, and only second with a dog. Last year, Olive and I ran it together - and that was her second run ever. After today's race, she and I will have logged just a bit over 275 miles together.

The beginning of this run is always crowded. There's always those who either think that they are faster than they are, or those walkers who don't understand that they are lined up with runners. I can't complain too much since it is for a good cause.

I tried not to pay attention to the time, just listened to my body. While running, I was able to tell that I hadn't pushed myself hard in a while - I actually think that last month's half marathon was a bit easier on me than on today's run - but of course, that would be hard to honestly compare.

Looking at my GPS watch, I posted the following lap times:

Mile 1: 9:12.74
Mile 2: 9:04.32
Mile 3: 8:22.32
Mile 0.1: 0:46.05

Total time for the 2009 Furry 5k: 27:25.54 (average pace of 8:50 per mile.)

While I didn't hit my time goal, I did knock of 39 seconds from my best time, and a new PR is always a good thing. Plus, this was Olive and I's best time together (my previous PR I was running solo.)

Looking at the times - I finished in 100th place (out of 224) for the male runners. That's kind of cool. For all timed runners, I finished in 188th place out of 549.

Upcoming races:

June 13 - Sound to Narrows 12k
June 27 - Seattle Rock N Roll Half Marathon
July 25 - Torchlight 8k
August 1 - Tacoma Narrows Half Marathon

Busy summer!

And another race!



This will be my third half marathon of the year.

Races so far in 2009:

5/3 - Tacoma City Half Marathon
6/7 - Furry 5k
6/9 - Sound To Narrows 12k
6/27 - Seattle Rock And Roll Half Marathon
8/1 - Tacoma Narrows Half Marathon

Olive and I survived our last long training run in preparation for the Tacoma City Half Marathon on May 3rd. Only 8 days away!

We did our 7.5 mile route in 1:16 with an average pace of 10:07. Still not our fastest and most efficient pacing, but as I've said before, I am still happy with that time (considering the course.) This time gives me an excellent benchmark for running the Sound to Narrows 12k in June.

Splits:

Mile 1: 9:45
Mile 2: 9:58
Mile 3: 9:46
Mile 4: 10:20
Mile 5: 10:40
Mile 6: 10:05
Mile 7: 10:42
Mile 7.5: 4:45 (9:27 pace) <--- finish strong!

Now I just need to take it easy next week at work - I should only run three days and will probably do the 2.6 mile hill route on Monday and Wednesday, and the flat 3 mile route on Tuesday. Use Thursday, Friday and Saturday as rest days. (Or at the most, walk during my lunch time, and maybe go to the dog park with Olive on Saturday.)

Just spoke to Claudia - she's had a rough week, and a rough Saturday, so we're not going to go to the Sounders game - but I'm still welcome to have the tickets, so Josh and I are going to go instead.

Since my afternoon opened up - what should I do?

In addition to Tacoma City Half Marathon on May 3rd, and the inaugural Seattle Rock and Roll Half Marathon on June 27th, I just registered for two more races:



The 2009 Furry 5k! For those keeping score at home, this was my very first race - ever - which I ran back in 2006. This year, Olive and I will be running it alone, and our plan is to go all out and hopefully better my 2007 finish time - 28:05. To be ran on June 7th.




And a new race for me - the Sound to Narrows 12k. I've been wanting to do this race since 2007, but it was scheduled the same weekend as the Furry 5k, so I've always had to pass. Until this year! I have high confidence for this race because I've been using this course as a training route for my first half marathon this year. Just have to see how it is in a race environment. To be ran on June 13th.