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We’ve been making a concerted effort to improve our fitness, motivated in part by our upcoming half-marathon.  Brian decided to register for a tune-up race this weekend, and I grudgingly agreed to run too.

We arrived at the race course along with hundreds of obviously serious runners.  (The race results reflected that 90% of the finishers ahead of us were from track clubs.)  Reminding ourselves that this was a fun race for us, and not a competitive endeavor, we picked up our race packet and warmed up.  The weather was clearing with a slight breeze, a bit warmer than forecasted but still pleasant. As the gun went off to start the 12K race, the bagpipes inspired us along by playing the theme from “Chariots of Fire.”

We went out at a 8:20 pace, faster than we planned, but it felt good.  We kept it up for the second mile, crossing at 8:13, and still believing we were faster than our pack neighbors.  We settled in on a hilly 3rd mile at 8:31, which turned out to be the slowest mile of the day.  By the fifth mile, I was feeling the endorphins and having a wonderful time, and Brian was also humming along and pushing up the long ascents.  The hill training around the Artichoke Reservoir paid off as we were able to maintain an 8:24 pace, speed up for the final 300m on the track, and finish in the 1:02:27 noted in the title of the post.  We figured out afterward that this is the fastest we’ve run in at least three years.  And that’s just the start of our season!

Dan Dunn and Bailey came up to hang out and have dinner at Agave, a relaxing and enjoyable way to unwind from a racing day.  After church on Sunday, I enjoyed the Newburyport Choral Society’s concert and then we headed to Steve and Connie’s for dinner.  A wonderful weekend all around!