Another rival crossed off the list!

I have two runs, my thoughts on which, I wanted to get on paper. So I thought I better get typing before another notable run happens and my mind gets too jumbled! Not hard to do.

Last Saturday (yes, a week ago) I ran the Mackinac Island Eight Mile race. For those not familiar with Mackinac Island, it is an island in Lake Huron within view of the Mackinac Bridge that connects the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. This island is reachable only by ferry and the only type of transportation on the island is by foot, bicycle, horseback or horse-drawn carriage! You often have to watch where you step if you're brave enough to walk in the streets. There are employees whose only job is to clean horse waste, but they can only work so fast and the "other" type of horse waste can't be removed with a scoop!

Matt and I visit Mackinac Island a few times each year. We just love it. Yes, it is a tourist trap, but for good reason. There is a lot of history on the island, GREAT fudge shops (almost every other shop is a fudge shop - seriously), lots of interesting geological formations and it is wonderful for road running, trail running and biking.

The Eight Mile race is a race around the perimeter of the island, which means we were within sight of gorgeous Lake Huron almost the entire run. From the west side of the island, the Mackinac Bridge was visible. From the south, the Round Island Lighthouse. Plus, several of the rock formations can be seen from the perimeter highway as well.

I had high hopes of breaking 54:00 - and I did!!! My time was 53:07. Fourth female and first in Age Group. YES!! I was pleasantly surprised that such a short race handed out medals to all finishers. That was a nice touch! But I also took home a trophy for my AG win. It is one of the cheesiest looking trophies I've ever seen. I'll try to get a photo up soon, but I can't locate our camera at the moment.

Another bonus from this run is I finally beat a woman who has placed ahead of me in every other race we've both run previously. We just seem to register for the same races and she always beats me! But not anymore! hahahahahahahahaha!!!! BOOOOYAAAAA!!!!

Also, now I know what she looks like - from behind, that is. haha! During the race, she was ahead of me up until mile 6 1/2ish. She was always just within sight and sometimes I lost her going around bends. She must have run out of steam because I wasn't running any faster when I crept up on her and passed her. I ended up finishing 30 secs ahead of her. I didn't find out until after the race that it was her - one of my arch rivals. hehe!! Another one crossed off the list. Who should I aim for next? ;-)

On to today's run. I am still, seven hours later, feeling the effects of the run deep in my chest - that sensation you get after a good, hard effort that lingers for a while and reminds you what you accomplished. It isn't a bad feeling. It's actually kind of pleasant. It makes me feel like a deserve to sit here and rest and type up my run reports.

The run was supposed to be a 15-miler with about 12 miles at MP. That didn't happen. What did happen was a 14-miler with 9 miles at a pace somewhere between half marathon pace and marathon pace. Not sure what to call that exactly! It was a great workout and I'm sure I reaped some good benefit from it. But... But I really need to figure out what MP feels like. I tried to slow myself down consciously but after each mile I ended up with the same pace. I was very consistent! Consistently too fast. I have several more MP runs coming up. I will try harder. I swear.

Here are the splits:

1. 7:17
2. 7:19
3. 7:15
4. 7:20
5. 7:20
6. 7:20
7. 7:22
8. 7:22
9. 7:26 - this one was actually very close to the pace I had planned (7:25-7:30ish)! I only managed it here cuz I was so tired!