I am a 10 Miler!

I ran today with members of a large Jersey run club that will be hosting (or at least playing a big role in) next month's NJ Marathon. What a great bunch of folks, they stayed with me, constantly checked in with me if they were going too fast for me (yes, they were a few times), if anything hurt me (mostly good), and vowed to not leave me behind. They are all running the full, I was the lone prospective HMer in the group of 5. I stuck mainly with one gal who also preferred the back of the pack, she was terrific for me, they all were, really! These people didn't know me from Adam, and yet they took me in, told me I looked like I could go the whole 13.1 they were planning, and just really "Buil[t] Me Up" (in the words of Josh Groban:-))

I bailed on them at 8.75 miles and doubled back to my car along the Long Branch boardwalk, what a lovely day (started the run at 32 degrees, at the end of the 2 1/2 hrs (after the water stops and press photo--more on that later) it was 45, GAWGEOUS, as we say in Jersey.

At mile 6 water stop (coolers set up in front of several houses on the route, so well organized!), a guy drove up and said he was from a local newspaper and could he take out picture. Yes, my first run with other humans EVER, I'm not even a member of this club, and my photo will be in the paper with them:-)

So here are the stats:
10.0 miles
2:01:29 (12:08/mile)

Do you BELIEVE that pace??? These people definitely pushed me, AND I did not Gallowalk this go 'round. Just ran. Walked once or twice for a min or two early on because they set out too fast for me, but that is all the walking I did.

The lack of regular walk breaks probably explains my sciatic nerve barking at me for a lot of the run. It really hurt at the end. But I'll take it easy for today & tomorrow.

Here is the breakdown:
Mile 1: 10:50 (way too fast)
Mile 2: 11:14 (still too fast)
Mile 3: 12:48 (got a little lightheaded here, walked a bit)
Mile 4: 11:58
Mile 5: 12:13
Mile 6: 12:25 (had to walk a min or two to start up after the photo op)
Mile 7: 12:12
Mile 8: 12:11 (one negative split, woo hoo)
Mile 9: 13:10 (did these last 2 miles by myself, boo hoo)
Mile 10: 12:43 (very sore at this point--are we there yet?)

Stamina-wise, I felt good; pain-wise, my sciatic thingy was really hurting at the end, so I was glad to be done. I survived, I loved running with this nice bunch of folks. I am definitely sore now, but I hope this helped my mileage building, and I'll be glad to look for some new friends on HM day.