Ford Island Bridge 10k 4.7.18

So nice to be back to such a beautiful but tough race.  Every year that I have run the ambulance has had to come on island.  It is normally hot, humid, shadeless, and windless.  Definitely not an easy 10k.  Today, however, there was cloud cover and that was a much needed reprieve from the humidity that kept me sweating all race

My plan was to take it super slow and take pictures, but adrenaline got the better of me and I decided to run on edge.  I wanted to see if I could run a sub hour and I knew the challenge was going to be bridge hills.  When I got to the end of the race, where we run around the Navy Lodge and approach the bridge I kept thinking to myself, "the old Aurene would be on the bridge already."  In truth, it is hard to swallow how much slower I am after taking a year off.  When I look at my watch and see my pace I always think, "Ugh, I used to run 2  minutes faster!"  or, "I ran this race in 51 minutes the last time."  But as I ran on the bridge I finally told myself, "Yeah, but this Aurene is a myth fuckin surfer."  This made me smile, relax, and run the bridge as best as I could.  I played the old game where I try to pass as many people as I could and I was happy to pass the man with the Cross Fit shirt on.  As I ran up the last hill I saw the clock and knew I would sub hour and ran as hard as I could to the finish. 59:15, which ended up being a good 17 seconds faster than the 10k I ran last month.

Progress.  That's all I can ask for.