Distinguished Service 8 Mile Race

I had been debating all week whether or not to run today’s 8.0 mile race at SUNY Albany, which was put on by the HMRRC, one of Albany’s running groups. You may know they put on the Winter Series, which I usually participate in. I figured for $6, a bare bones race around an uncrowded, flat course was what I needed to get my out of my race slump.

I wasn’t feeling in the mood to race this morning, so I put on a cute running outfit to motivate me. It worked!

I ended up meeting Kristin there so I was glad to have a buddy run with! We are running the ADK Ragnar Relay together in September, so it was awesome to run with her today! We had lots to chat about.

Anyway, the course of this race was a bit different from the winter series. It didn’t go around the campus. Instead, it ran around the outside loop of the University of Albany, which was a nice change!

It was pretty warm during the race, but this time the heat didn’t get to me. I think the fact that the course was mostly flat helped a lot.

Stats:

Total Distance – 8.02 miles

Total Time – 1:18:11

Average Pace – 9:45/mile

I didn’t have any goals going into this race, except to maybe finish under 10:00/minute mile average pace, which I did! I was surprised at myself for keeping a steady 9:30-9:45 the whole time. I did have my moments where I stopped to walk, but overall I felt pretty strong and finished fast!

Kristin & I Post-Race

I’m glad I made the decision to run this race today–it was exactly what I needed to get my out of my summer race slump!