It's Valentime!

That's what my 7 year old calls it. Poor child doesn't know about Hammertime yet. It'll be years before he appreciates the 80s.

And Valentime is racetime! Last year I ran the Stamford St. Valentine's 30K for the first time and so I'll refer you there for info on the location. This year there was no snow (good), but plenty of drizzle and rain and a nasty northeaster. Plus the hills just don't get any easier. Although the course is shorter it's good Boston preparation - mostly downhill for the first 4M, then hills and then uphills at the end. My aim for the race was to run a smart race - not go out like a bat out of hell but start slow and speed up as I go. And in that aim I was very successful. Running Oprah (I love to chat while racing long distance) met a couple 9 minute miling for the first 10K. Then at the 10K marker some wag pointed out there were only 20 more kms to go and I got chatting to him. His pace was slightly faster, around 8:55 min/mile, and we ran the next 10k together. He let me surge ahead at 20K and I did. I was feeling strong, even on the hills and was overtaking people slowly as I went along. The last .6 mile I finally went like a bat out of hell and overtook everyone in my way (including a woman who I had seen in the distance for the entire 30K). She and I duked it out the last 20 metres or so, and people? I was victorious! I made it across the finish in 2:44: 51 - nearly 4 minutes faster than last year and 1 second ahead of my nemesis.

Overall a decent race. It is hard and hilly but I enjoyed myself and I enjoyed managing my pace along the way. Running the last mile a marshall said he'd never seen anyone smile at 29K. Now I'm in bed and contemplating the week ahead. I think this will be one of my silver bullet weeks - I'm going to repeat the last week's training during this week which is a holiday week for my kids. 43 miles so nothing too serious. And only 14 this weekend! I'm positively giddy.

Overall I'm feeling okay. The past 2 months have been tough on the personal front - the kids and husband are fine but there has been some difficult and challenging stuff going on my life. It has left me feeling pretty low mentally and truly my running, however difficult it is at times, has been the thing that's made me feel I'm okay and worthwhile. Put it this way - I am looking forward to running Boston - it's a goal that I really need right now.

I hope all your running - and life - is going well. Keep me posted!

A celebratory glass after today's race - onwards and upwards!