31st Annual Santa Monica Venice Christmas 10k Run 2008

Even though it started raining and was cold, today was awesome. My big dorky watch clocked me at 57:26 with an average speed of 9:18 minutes per mile. My official chip time was 56:56 with a 9:11 minute per mile pace. I am very happy with this number for several reasons. It is at least 15 minutes faster than my first 10k I ran earlier this year. I trained on a treadmill at a slower speed of 10 minutes a mile. I was a little worried that I would try to run too fast in the beginning and would not be able to maintain it or improve, especially since I was moving a little faster than normal. But, by mile 5, I was in it to win it. I am really pleased with the way it all went down. I especially enjoyed this event because there is no other time in my life where I can blatantly ignore red lights and stop signs in Los Angeles. I was also able to see parts of Venice that I have never seen before. I met some nice people at the end of the race. My ipod shuffle worked and played all the right songs at the right time (I sprinted to the finish line while listening to a song from Run Lola Run). And of course, I did it under an hour.

Mile 0-1: 9:45 minutes / mile
Mile 1-2: 9:38 minutes / mile
Mile 2-3: 9:34 minutes / mile
Mile 3-4: 9:22 minutes / mile
Mile 4-5: 9:11 minutes / mile
Mile 5-6: 8:48 minutes / mile
Mile 6-6.2: 6:43 minutes / mile

Who wants to get a beer?