Pat's Run

I'm in such *relief mode* now that Pat's Run is done and in the books. I was pretty nervous about my readiness ~ or lack therof ~ after a couple weeks off.....but it all ended up okay.

I had a great run with buddy Eileen ~ who I realized early on is a much stronger runner than she gives herself credit for ;) It was a perfect day, perfect weather, and perfect company.

Eileen and I set out with 17,000 of our closest friends for a nice 4.2 mile run. For those who don't know much about the Pat Tillman legacy that runs strong here in the Phoenix area, you can read about it HERE. In short, Pat was an ASU football player (GO DEVILS!!!), turned professional with the AZ Cardinals ~ and basically walked away from a lucrative NFL contract to go serve our country in Iraq. Sadly, Pat was killed by *friendly fire* and his death is still somewhat a sore subject for AZ locals. The Pat Tillman Foundation was created in his honor ~ it provides college scholarships for future leaders. It is a fantastic legacy.

The race is 4.2 miles, and ends on the 42 yard line of Sun Devil Stadium. Can you guess what Pat's jersey number was at ASU? :P

As an ASU alum, and someone who watched Tillman play for quite a while and knew the kind of person he was, this race is near and dear to my heart. People of all ages, shapes, sizes and motivations show up to walk / run and just show support for Pat Tillman and all he stood for. It's a very cool thing.

Sooo.....that being said ~ here's Eileen and I at the start:

(picture shamelessly stolen from Eileen's blog ;)

We headed out with the adrenalin rush of the race, and completed our first mile at a pretty good pace. I'm hoping that we truly got Eileen her fastest mile, as she had suspected when we stopped for a water break at Mile 1!!

We ran at a nice pace, stopping when one of us needed a break. My legs were pretty tired (the good ol' concrete shoes again) but overall, everything was in order. Chip time was 52:35, with an average pace of 12:33. I'll take it! It's miles on the books after a long drought ~ so I consider it a great success :)

On top of that, a race is always a great motivation for me to get myself back on track. I'm hoping for at least 2 short runs this week, and a medium-long run over the weekend. I'm tired of seeing that big, fat ZERO in my weekly mileage total!!!!

Happy Monday ~ if there is such a thing :P