St. Valentine's Day 10k, 10:00 a.m., sunny, 49. Last year, I ran 40:15. This year, I had no idea what to expect. Was I in 39:00 shape, 41:00 pace, etc. - I really had no idea. The past few months, I have been consistently trying to do a weekly 10-11 mile run, which I normally don't do. This was my first race in over 7 months. Late last summer, I was diagnosed with 2 stress fractures and have SLOWLY tried to come back. This was not a PR for me, but I will take it and it gives me a good indication of where I am at right now. The course is hones, in that there are multiple hills, etc. The mile markers were a bit off at around 4-5 miles, but he splits were: 6:09, 6:22, 6:39, 6:39, 6:51, 5:58, and 1:02. As I said, mile 5 was a bit long and 6 was a bit short. When I saw that I could break 40:00, I really kicked it in. I was 8th overall and trailed the first two females all race. I did get one of them at the end, but was ~:02 behind the other. Trailing them all race actually motivated me. I have no problems getting beat by a female, at all! The wind was a factor at times, but the sun and temps were great. One more month of QUALITY training until my 1/2 marathon. I would really like to PR (1:26:57), but don't know how possible it is. I'd really like to crack 1:26:00. Any suggestions for the final month??? | 