Wow! I can't believe how much I hated this race last year (did it for Runners' Series) and how much MORE I hated it this year! I was hopeful when they said they had changed the course, but they actually added MORE UPHILL! I love the 2 miles of downhill at the beginning (averaged 6.30 for those two miles), then crashed and burned later on all the uphills. However, I did meet my goal. My ultimate goal was to run the race in an average of 7:45 (which I did--exactly!), because that is the pace I would like to shoot for next year in my marathon. The bad thing was, it felt HORRIBLE! I WANTED TO WALK AT MILE 11! I was so tired a woman passed me on the track in the last .10 mile! I just realize more and more that hills are something I totally need to work on. It made me think fondly of all the hills Cheryl would make us run up and down (again, again and again). I need to do more of that! And probably complain less! | 