Hooray Spring Six Miler

Had a bit of a spring in my step this morning for my first virtual race, the Hooray Spring Six Miler. Actually, I didn't - I felt like I was dragging myself around a bit - but I couldn't resist the pun. Sorry...

It was a beautiful morning - at least after the sun came up. I left just after six, while it was still pretty dark, but it lightened up after the second mile or so. No dazzling sunrise or anything, just a nice morning for a run. Shorts and long-sleeve shirt weather - my favorite.

My six mile loop took me up 7th Street to McCarran, over the top of the hill to Keystone, down a dirt trail through Rancho San Rafael, then back towards home along Washington. (Actually, you can see the trail through Rancho San Rafael in the masthead of this blog - it goes right next to the little lake in the front center of the picture.) I started out feeling pretty sluggish, not really feeling much like a run, actually. But I made it to the top of the hill on McCarran, and felt better after that.

I had projected 50 minutes for this run, and that was the only way this really felt like a race - I was watching my time to see how close I could come. At the halfway point, I felt like I was behind, but the second half was downhill-ish, so I just kept an eye on it. At 1.25 miles left, I was at 40 minutes, so I figured 8 minute miles would get me in right on time. Must've gone a little faster, because I hit 6 miles at 49:22.



So, thanks, RunningLaur, for a fun little virtual race. Have to do it again sometime...