Bosque Boogie 10K Race Report

There were two local races being held today. One is a road race promising fast times, the other an off-road adventure promising scenic views. I chose the latter and signed up for the 10K distance. It's worth mentioning that I haven't run an official 10K in over two years. And I've never been good at figuring out how to pace myself for this distance, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

The race started behind a shopping center. We ran on road for a short distance. Then onto twisty single track for roughly 2 miles. The bulk of the remainder was on dirt levee road that was loose and uneven, but straight. It finished on a very short hard surface again.

Highlights: It *was* beautiful. And I had a few fans waiting for me near the turn around point. Husband surprised me by bringing the dogs out! I did stop for a moment to give him my long sleeve shirt so that I didn't have to run with it tied around my waist. That was helpful. And shortly afterwards, I found myself running with a lady who was keeping my same pace at that point. We started talking during the final mile and finished together.

I think this graph from my Garmin tells the pacing story better than simply looking at mile splits.

Three observations:

#1 - I started off too fast. I know better, but I did it anyway. I believe this is mainly due to my inexperience with this distance. I wasn't really sure what my 10K pace felt like.

#2 - The single track section was much more *difficult* than I imagined it would be. I enjoyed it for the first mile, then I was ready for it to be over. I definitely need to practice running on single track if I'm going to do more of these types of races.

#3 - Once we got out on the dirt levee road, I fell into a pace that I was able to (mostly) hold onto for the rest of the race. I'm pleased with that.

The official results have me at 1:03:15, 10:11 average pace. That's less than a minute off (aka slower than) my personal best 10K time which was a road race, so I am thrilled with this finish time given the race surface. I believe that I have a personal best 10K inside me just waiting for the perfect race to make itself known. ;-)

All in all, a great way to spend an autumn morning. I realize that I am truly blessed to be able to run right now. I hope whatever you all did this weekend was equally wonderful.

Edited to add - Official results are posted and I'm happy to see that I finished 11 of 23 F45-49. It is *nice* to be solidly middle of the pack these days. :-)

Steady Run

My plans to run this morning were thwarted by an early morning work meeting. I ended up meeting two guys from my running group after work for a 4 "steady" run instead. My steady pace is supposed to be 10:30-10:50. Here's what happened:

mile 1 - 10:41

mile 2 - 10:37

mile 3 - 10:31

mile 4 - 9:44

The first three miles were bang on, but that last mile was a tad bit fast. I think we sped up because it was getting dark. That last mile wasn't exactly what was on my schedule, but it served as a nice confidence booster for the 10K on Sunday.

[edited to add...looked more closely at my Garmin data. We didn't really speed up until the last half mile which was actually at a 9:01 pace...that's faster than my 5K pace. Aye carumba! ]

Of course the downside of running tonight was that I didn't get to test my race outfit for Sunday. Which might not have been such a bad thing, since I haven't figured out what I'm wearing anyway. Hahahahaha.

Weather

I grew up in Northwest Ohio and moved to central New Mexico as a young adult. One of the things I had to learn when I moved was how to plan for high desert weather. Two important points:

1) The coldest part of the day is actually the half hour just as the sun goes up. This is due to thermal conditions. I observed this today. It was ~31 when I woke up, and dipped down to 29 as the sun started to rise. Brrrrr.

2) The combination of high altitude and sunny skies means more heat loss when then sun sets than what I grew up with. There simply isn't anything to hold the warm air to the earth, and we experience ~30 deg difference between the low and high temp for the day. This is useful for knowing how to dress for the day. Also useful for deciding whether to run morning or evening.

With that in mind, here is the forcast for the week.


I would like to begin by saying that they LIED when saying the low for today would be 35. It was much colder than that when I woke up. I suspect the high won't quite make 60 deg. I wasn't quite ready to don my winter gear and head out in the cold, so I decided to postpone until the evening. At that time it will probably mid 50s and falling. I plan to wear capris and probably a long sleeve over a sleeveless shirt. I wouldn't be surprised if I find that I've over dressed once I start moving.

Thursday I will try to run in the morning. It is supposed to be low forties and rising. To me that is more palatable than low thirties like today. More importantly it is supposed to be same in the morning as race day (trust me on this even though I'm not showing Sunday in the snip above). That means I may get a chance to test my race day outfit (which is still tbd) to see how it works with the weather.

Of course weather predictions are always subject to change, so we'll see what really happens...

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Note to self: I ended up wearing my Lotta Breeze Capris and teal long sleeve Nike shirt this evening. It was perfect for starting temp ~55, ending temp ~50

Saturday Seven

First off, thanks for all the responses to the questions I asked in my last post. We did end up getting thunderstorms Thursday evening, so I did my miles easy on Friday morning so as not to interfere with my "long" run this morning. I also went ahead and ordered compression sleeves. I'll let you know how I like them once I have some opportunities to try them out.

This morning I planned on joining one of my running partners for a seven mile run. He was scheduled for 12 miles and wanted to start closer to 7am. I was scheduled for seven miles and wanted to start closer to 8am. We found a perfect solution...he ran 5 solo and I joined him for the next 7.

This was a win-win in many ways. One of the benefits for me was that we agreed to meet close to the venue for my 10K next weekend and run a portion on the race course. It's going to be a fun race. I really enjoyed the single track section; it was awesome! The dirt levee road was kind of fun too. It benefited him as well. He seemed to be struggling for the last 4 miles or so, and I think I was able to help keep him motivated to run. It's always easier when you've got someone to pull you along.

Oh, and I've decided not to register for the RnR half-marathon in Phoenix. I just can't justify the expense for something that really doesn't fit well into my plans. Plus, while I'm happy about doing some running during the winter, the thought of following a training plan for a January half-marathon doesn't appeal to me right now.

Enjoy your weekend folks!

Three Things Thursday - with questions

1) It seems like my back acts up every autumn. Maybe it's coincidence, maybe it has to do with the weather change, who knows. It started bothering me this weekend and I wanted to get ahead of it this time. I decided to call the chiropractor. I know that chiropractor's are controversial and I'm not really sure how I feel about them myself, but I do know that the chiropractor makes me feel better, at least in the short term. I tend to go when I have pain, but then don't go in for regular adjustments when I feel better. Anyway, I called the office, only to discover that my chiropractor passed away unexpectedly about 10 days ago. Wow. Another untimely death. Anyway, one of his friends who is also a chiropractor is seeing his patients temporarily. So I was able to get in for an appointment. I'm already feeling better, and have another appointment on Friday. Do any of you see chiropractors? Do you go for regular adjustments or just when you have pain?

2) I'm still struggling with the morning vs evening weekday running. I ran Tuesday as the sun was setting and really didn't dress appropriately. That was the first time this autumn that it got dark while I was out running. I need to be more diligent about wearing reflective clothing. Today I am scheduled for a tempo run. On the one hand, it would probably have been more comfortable to run this morning. But I had decided to run after work. Now I see that the forcast calls for thunderstorms this afternoon. D'oh! If the weather isn't cooperating, I'm thinking that I will run Friday morning instead. Which means my tempo run will be back-to-back with my long run. That is probably not ideal for someone like me who is prone to injury. I'm not sure what to do, I'd ask my Coach, but he left yesterday for vacation. What should I do if today's tempo doesn't happen? Run it Friday or just run easy Friday so I have fresh legs for the long run on Saturday?

3) I'm thinking about getting some compression leg sleeves. I'm more interested in the sleeves than the socks because I'm afraid to wear anything other than my regular socks. I'm not sure if I run enough to really need the sleeves though. But since I'm a slowish runner, I'm out there a long time even though my mileage isn't that high. Is it based on time on feet instead of miles?! I'm just not sure. Anybody know at what point compression socks/sleeves are useful?

Pondering

I really should keep my focus on my upcoming races, yet I'm already thinking about next year.

Two of the folks from my running group are running the full marathon at Rock & Roll in Phoenix next year. I had briefly entertained the notion of joining them and doing the half, but I thought the race was the weekend of the 23rd, which would be a no-go for me due to an important personal conflict. So I wrote it off. Then yesterday, while talking with someone, I realized that the race is on the 16th. Really? I could actually pull that off. And it sure would be nice to get a chance to run a low altitude and see what I can do. Many of you may not realize that I live about a mile above sea level...and the lack of oxygen affects my performance in a negative way. But if I got the chance to run a flat course at sea level, just maybe this high altitude training would result in a surprise finish time...

BUT before you jump on the band wagon and tell me to DO IT, you need to realize that there are pluses and minuses of this race. And the biggest minus is that it really doesn't align to my goals for next year. Allow me to think out loud.

What have I posted about recently? Wanting to do more trail running. That's a very real goal for me. This past year two local races got my attention. One is called Dirty Half Marathon and it was in the Sandia mountains. I've heard good things about it from the folks who ran it. Another is the Sandia Mountain Shadows Trail run. In essentially the same venue, with a 10K or 5K option. Both of these races are close to home, no travel cost, and relatively short drive from my house. Which means I can stretch my race budget to include more events. And they fit the bill nicely to align to my goal of trail running.

Another race that's on my radar is Run the Caldera Trail Run up in Jemez Springs at 8000+ ft above sea level. I'm interested in either the 10K or the HM. It would be challenging, but beautiful. And it's a little farther away, but certainly doable from home with an early wake-up call.

Then there's an event that I've wanted to do for the past 2 years but have always been out of town. It's the Shamrock Shuffle 10 mile race. Historically, this one has been on mixed terrain partly off road and partly on road. I've never done a 10mile race and this year, I actually think we'll be around for it. Another local race with minimal impact to my race budget.

I'd really like to be able to run Mount Diablo out in California with JoLynn next year. From her photos, it looks beautiful, running with JoLynn would totally rock, and it would give me a great excuse to go out and check in on my son at Cal. This one involves travel expenses, but with the opportunity to spend time with both JoLynn and my Son, it would be well worth it.

And while I wasn't very happy about the single wide bridge crossing early on in the Albuquerque Half marathon this past spring, I sure would like another try at that one next year.

And of course, running the half at Duke City instead of being on the sidelines would rock.

Which brings me back to pondering the Rock & Roll in Phoenix. Why is it that this one has appeal for me? Mainly the opportunity to run at low altitude. But it's a road race, not a trail race. It involves travel cost that I'm having a hard time justifying. I'd probably end up running solo (which I don't like) because Husband would likely need to stay home with Daughter. And I'd have to train for a HM during the winter and over the holidays when the weather is going to be cold and unpredictable.

It really isn't a good fit. Yet, for some reason, I'm thinking about it. Decisions, decisions...

Getting My Cheer on

I've run the Duke City Half-marathon for the past 3 years. I really wanted to run it again this year, but my knee just wasn't cooperating and I got back to running about a month too late to be sufficiently prepared. I certainly didn't want to risk re-injury, so I reluctantly stayed on the sidelines for this one.

My running group had a 6-person co-ed relay team in the full marathon. Two of our runners were doing the half. Two of us were planning to sit this one out.

I wasn't running, but wanted to participate in a meaningful way. I decided the best way to do so was to show up and cheer for our solo runners. I decided to position myself near the half-marathon turn point. Since I didn't want to miss my runners, and I wasn't sure where I find a parking space, I made sure to get out there early.

While I intended to take photos while I was out there, in reality the only photo I took was of the 7 mile marker that I was standing near. Exciting, huh?

Of course, I couldn't just stand there silently and wait for my runners. Soon I fell into a cheering rhythm. CLAP CLAP CLAP "Good job runners" CLAP CLAP CLAP *pause* (repeat)

The first person that I saw that knew me was none other than the hills repeat guy! In our interchange that one day, we hadn't introduced ourselves by name, so he called me by the name of the village that we live in. "Hey, Corrales! " Hahahahahaha.

I almost missed my first runner. To my surprise, one of the other runners that I thought had sat out this race was running with her. He had mentioned the possibility for making a last minute decision to pace her (I think there was time to sign-up at the expo). As he ran by, he stopped for a moment, took off his long sleeve shirt and handed it too me. I was happy to help out, but it was pretty gross...all sweaty...when I got it home, I put it into the wash immediately. LOL

Since I was near the turn point, I was able to cheer for my runner directly after the turn around. She was looking strong and I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up with a half-marathon PR.

Back to my routine of CLAP CLAP CLAP "Good job runners!" CLAP CLAP CLAP *pause* (repeat) while I waited for my other runner.

I want to mention something. When I run, I make it a point to thank the volunteers and folks on the course who are out cheering. I've never been very sure how many other people do that. Based on my experience yesterday morning, I'd say that maybe 5% said thank you as they ran by while I was cheering. That's more than I expected, and it made me happy.

I had no problem finding my next runner. To my surprise, he was running with one of the guys who had run an early leg of the marathon relay who was essentially doing a cool down. When they saw me they said that they had been looking for me and were really happy to see me which warmed my heart. I gave some encouragement and made a few jokes as they ran by (both times). It was good to see them smiling.

I stayed for a little while longer, then decided to head home. I would have preferred to be out on the course running myself, but in lieu of that, cheering was a surprisingly satisfying alternative.

The best laid plans...

Today's schedule called for 7 miles easy. I had decided to run a loop starting on the ditch bank (in the sun), and ended up on the acequia (in the shade) on the way back. This was as the temperature heated up, I'd stay comfortable. A perfect plan.

Here I am all pleased with myself for devising such a good plan for my run. I expected the sleeves would last 2-3 miles, then I would tuck them in the hydration belt. Which is basically what happened.

But it wouldn't be much of a story if the plan was without incident. You see, there was one minor issue. I had failed to map out the course in advance and didn't quite know where to turn. I thought I would figure it out while I was out there. But I was wrong.

When I realized that I had gone a little over 4 miles without hooking into my return route, I decided to turn around and head back the same way that I started. Which meant that I was not running a 7 mile loop with the return route in the shade. Instead, I was running an 8.25 mile out & back in the sun. Uggggh.

It's not all bad. While the run didn't go as planned, I did get to work on mental training. I wasn't happy about messing up my route and running longer, but I decided to make the best of it. And I made darn sure to figure out exactly where to turn for next time.

Have a great weekend folks!

Steady Runs

I love my coach. I feel that he really listens to me about my personal goals and creates training plans and offers encouragement to help me reach those goals. During my last training cycle, for a Half Marathon, he respected my desire to finish strong, pain-free, and happy at whatever pace I found could achieve that. He gave other runners pace targets for the occasional steady or tempo run, but let me run by feel.

Fast forward to this training cycle. When I was talking to him about my upcoming 10K, I explained that it's a distance that I really struggle with. Too short to justify running easy. Too far for me to sustain running hard. I've never felt good about this particular distance, and it shows in my finish times.

One of the things that he brought to my attention is that I've never trained for a 10K before. I've trained for HMs, then run a 10K (too slow). I've trained for 5Ks/sprint triathlons then run a 10K (crash and burn). I've even showed up relatively untrained, then run a 10K (train wreck). It's no wonder my finish times are all over the map.

But this time I'm actually training specifically for a 10K. And with that, I find today scheduled to be the first of several 'steady' runs before the race. Which means I'm supposed to run at a prescribed pace. A pace, I might add, that looks scary fast to me. Gulp.

Of course, my immediate reaction was "I can't do this!" My next thought was that since I ran a virtual 10K as part of my 7 miler last weekend, I'll count THAT run as my steady run, and cop out and run easy today.

But then I came full circle. I'm ready to try this. And since I think my best chance of success for this steady run will be to run with the group, that's my plan for the day. I may not hit the prescribed pace, but I'm going to give it an honest try. Wish me luck!

[Updated to add: I hit the prescribed pace window for 2 of the 4 miles that I ran. Missed it on the other two miles. While certainly not a perfect result, I am satisfied. Gotta' remember that this training cycle is a work in progress; race is still a few weeks away.]

Good Bad Ugly of Morning Run

Good

I was all kinds of happy when Mr UPS man came up the driveway yesterday evening and dropped off my package from Zappos. My Lotta Breeze Capris are here! And they fit! They performed well on their debut 5 mile run this morning. YAY!

[Sorry that I don’t have a photo, I was running late (pun intended) and really couldn’t take the time to get a photo this morning. I’ll get one some other time though, I promise.]

Bad

99% of the time, I come across people out on the trail who seem harmless. Most runners and walkers are like-minded in that they are out there for fitness/fun. This morning, however, I came across someone best described as a Crazy Lady. I couldn't understand what she was trying to say to me, perhaps it was a friendly (enthusiastic) warning about loose dogs up ahead, but she made me very uncomfortable. As a result, I made the decision to reroute myself to put as much distance as possible between myself and Crazy Lady and whatever it was that had her all up in arms.

The unintended rerouting messed me up a bit, because I was no longer quite sure where my turnaround point should be. It worked out okay in the end though; I guessed right and managed to get the full distance in. But now I’m a little leery about taking that other path on a weekday morning… :-(

Ugly

There is a reason I don’t generally follow the Galloway method. It’s not that I don’t believe in it, I do. I think it's great. It’s just that I suck at it. The method involves defined intervals. A seasoned Galloway runner would do something that resembles this: RUN walk RUN walk RUN walk RUN

When I try to implement it, it goes more like this: RUN walk RUN walk run WALK run WALK WALK.

And that’s basically what happened on my 5 mile morning. Needless to say, I was not happy about the resulting splits...

Getting My Shopping On

Today is a dedicated rest day, so I don't have anything much to report. Except for the results of a weekend shopping spree made possible by a few giveaways.

On Friday, I was contacted by Cafe Press to see if I was interested in my own Runner Sigg Bottle. Heck yeah! I could really use that to help keep myself hydrated at home. I knew exactly which one I wanted, because I often browse through their stuff. CafePress offers millions of personalized gifts where you can make your own custom Christmas ornaments and even personalized holiday photo cards!

Next, using a $100 Visa that I won from The Happy Runner, I settled on the Skirt Sports Lotta Breeze Capris. I don't want to retire my skirts for the season just because the weather is turning cooler. Plus I really could use a second pair of capris. I can't wait until they arrive so that I can test them out. Just hope I chose the correct size. I ordered through Zappos, just in case I didn't. Return shipping will be free if needed.

Had some extra leftover after that purchase and dedicated it to a pair of Dirty Girl Gaiters. Even though I'm just getting my feet wet (so to speak) with trail running at the moment, I'm beginning to understand how these could be useful. Somehow ever rock, stick, burr seems to find it's way into my shoes at the moment. Again, still awaiting the package arrival.

That's it for my shopping spree. Now I wait for the goods to arrive. Happy Monday! Have a wonderful week everyone!

10/10/10 10K Virtual Race Report

This weekend, my training scheduled called for the dreaded 7 mile run. You know, the one I was doubting myself about earlier this week. I had also signed up to participate in Running Diva Mom's Virtual 10/10/10 10K so I decided to run the first 6.2 miles faster than my usual slow run pace. Then take it easy on the remainder of the run.

This is the race bib that I designed for myself for the virtual race. I wore my cheetah/pink skirt and a grey with pink stitching sleeveless shirt. Had to color coordinate the bib with the run outfit, hence the color scheme. And I added a roadrunner because I live in New Mexico.

It was a chilly morning, maybe 46 deg when I woke up. But it warmed up to ~51 when the sun came up over the mountains and was expected to get up to ~55 while I was out running. Perfect running weather, if you ask me.

I couldn't have been happier with my run. I felt great at the turn point and was able to maintain a reasonable clip for the 10K portion of my run. My 10K time was 01:03:34, a pace of 10:14 (shoot, if I had run just a little faster, I could have hit a 10:10 pace...how cool would that have been?).

I'm quite pleased with that result. To be honest, if I can hit that time at my 10K race later this month, I will be very happy. Although I expect it to be slower due to the offroad nature of the race, and that is okay with me. :-)

I stopped for a walk/water break when I hit the 10K point. Then I finished up my run at a much easier pace (~11:30). Total mileage for the day was 7.1mi.

Thanks, Running Diva Mom for hosting the virtual race. It turned out to be just the confidence builder that I needed during my current 10K training.

Three Things Thursday - "This vs. That"

1) Morning vs. Afternoon/Evening Running

I generally think of myself as a morning person. But that doesn't mean that I'm an EARLY morning person. While I do prefer running in the morning over running in the afternoon or evening, I simply don't have the desire to get up stupid early to run. So perhaps I'm more accurately described as a mid-morning person.

Why am I bringing this up? My body seems to be in sync with the sunrise/sunset. And as the sunrise moves later, I find myself getting up later. And that results in insufficient time to run in the morning before work. Which forces me into the option of running in the late afternoon/early evening. Which I'd rather not do. Vicious cycle!

I'm planning to continue running throughout the winter, so I am going to have to work this out somehow. Just not yet sure what the solution is going to be...

2) Run vs. Cross Train vs. Rest

Right now, a lot of my cross training involves walking, which doesn't seem to give my legs enough recovery time, so I feel that it is very important to take at least one rest day per week. With that in mind, I have decided that Mondays are designated as rest days. That leaves Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday as running days and Wednesday/Friday/Sunday for cross training. I can work with that.

3) Road vs. Off Road vs. Trail

In my limited experience, I've observed road running to be faster, higher impact, and more boring than off road vs trail running. Trails tend to be slower, more difficult/technical, most interesting/scenic. Off road (flat wide dirt levee for example) is somewhere in between. Next year, I want to add in some real trail races, but right now I'm taking baby steps and testing out off road running.

Why am I mentioning this? Well, my upcoming 10K is described as "all terrain." A small portion will be on paved road, about a third is on single-track, and the remainder is on a wide dirt levee road. My fastest 10K was on road, my slowest was a hilly all terrain course the day after a metric century . In all likelihood, I'm probably going to finish this next one somewhere in between my best and worst time. There is really nothing to worry about. If I can get past doubting myself, the race should be all kinds of fun!

A case of self-doubt

Confidence (or lack thereof) is a funny thing. I met up with the running group last night for a four mile run. I was running "easy" pace, but sometimes even that doesn't make the run seem easy. For some reason, that last mile was a real struggle.

With the struggle on that last mile, I started to doubt that I could run the prescribed seven this upcoming weekend. Then I began to seriously doubt that I'd be ready for the 10K at the end of the month.

Huh? Where did that come from?

I ran a 5K not less than two weeks ago. I ran a 10K long run this past weekend. I'm not injured. I'm not sick. I'm following my training plan. Why on earth wouldn't I be able to run seven miles this weekend or be ready for a 10K that's a little over three week away out?!

Looking at it rationally, that logic doesn't even make sense. I'm not sure why the self-doubt was so powerful during that last mile, but it's clear that I have some mental training to do over the next few weeks.

Dream it. Believe it. Then do it.

Self portrait project

For three weeks in September, I captured whatever I was wearing to run/walk that day. Some looks are better than others. I took 19 photos over a period of roughly 3 weeks. My photo skills didn't get much better over time, but at least I know how to use the self-timer feature on my camera now. The dogs make an appearance in every photo! How funny is that?!? I'm posting just a sampling here.

Some skirts are good for running, some are only good for walking. This is one that I have deemed a walking skirt.

Generic black on black. See a lot of that at races. Nothing wrong with it, but not a good combo if your cheering squad is trying to find you in a crowd. I learned that as a spectator. Of course, nobody is trying to pick me out in a crowd most mornings, so I wear it too.

Here is one of my favorites. I need to keep this in mind for an upcoming half-marathon. It's comfy and the lime green should make it easy to be spotted.

This next photo is from my recent 5K day. They gave us flags at the finish line and I was still carrying mine around when I got home.

Including this last one because it features one of my pairs of Moeben sleeves. These are a size small, which is too tight. So I took out the elastic. Then they were too loose. Then I added custom elastic back in. Now they are just right!

The complete collection is posted on FB, friend me over there if you want to see it. Although I warn you in advance, it's not all that exciting. Just a bunch of photos of me wearing different athletic clothing.

10K Non-Race Report

This morning I completed my run in honor of Runner's Bug First Annual 10K Non-Race. Which, by the way, you still have time to participate in and can choose 5K, 10K, or 10 mile distances. Hop over to his blog and join in the fun!

The purpose of the non-race is to run for the love of running. So I won't include any splits because that doesn't matter, just photos that I took along the way!

I started from my house and ran about .8 mile to the acequia. What's an acequia? Essentially this is a diversion channel with water from the Rio Grande that is used for irrigation. It's a nice path for running because the surface is dirt and most of it is lined by trees. Here's a photo that I snapped when I got to the acequia. Doesn't it look peaceful?

I stopped after another mile or so to take another photo. Doesn't look too different from the first one, but gives a good idea what it's like running through here.

This photo is not too exciting, it's from my turn point. Shortly after crossing over to the other side for the route back, I saw ducks in the water. That would have made a better photo. Oh well.

One of the yards along the ditch housed a pair of cows.

Another had horses and a goat

Near the end, I had to run in an area that wasn't tree lined. It was getting hot, so I didn't like that sunny part very much. I stopped momentarily to take a photo of my shadow:

When it was all done, I was back at my front door.

Thank you, James, for hosting the virtual non-race. I had a wonderful stress-free 10K run this morning. Hope you enjoyed "coming along with me."