5K run in Muscatine

Today, I ran a 5K -- the Watermelon Days run -- in Muscatine. It's challenging. An out and back course that is mostly uphill on the way out.

I ran 24:56 -- first in the 50-54 age group. 8:01.5 per mile. The out and back splits were extremely even -- 12:30 and 12:26. I ran the first mile in 8:15 (uphill), second mile in 8:08, and third 1.10685 in 8:33 (7:43 pace).

Hey, it's a place to start. I finally hope that the nagging injuries are beside me, and I can concentrate on really making a run at my goals. Everything is feeling great and I'm ready to go.

Thursday, I ran about 26 minutes. The first 7 or 8 were very fast with the varsity girls. Then I settled in with Claire and ran fine for the second 8 minutes. They stopped, and I ran another 10 minutes on the track.

Wednesday, I ran down to main street (7 minute warmup), then continuous main street hills for 16 minutes, then 7 minutes back to the school.

So altogether, with the hurt back, I was out a week.

Total miles for the three days -- 9.7. 109 miles on shoes.