2011 Run of Luck

(UPDATED: 3/14/2011)

On Saturday, I took part in the second run of the "Winter Meltdown Series.". The Run of Luck is a 7K run -- about 4.3 miles -- which takes place in the downtown area of Evansville. I don't know exactly how many people ran, but I did hear there were 1,400 preregistered runners and that it was the largest attended run in its 11-year history.

The weather turned out to be perfect for the ride. It had been cold and/or rainy most of the week. The sun came out for the day and brought some warmth with it as we hit the mid 50s by the time we took off.

The starting point was different than last year with the festivities taking place in downtown headquarters of an area bank. The route was virtually the same except for some adjustments that were made for the new start/finish point. After weaving through some of the downtown streets, we turned onto Riverside Drive, which runs alongside the Ohio River. We ran on the street as we passed Casino Aztar and then moves onto the Greenway (bike/running path). We moved back onto the roads and ran through a few neighborhoods as we made our way back to downtown and the finish line.

My pace was pretty decent, but I seemed to have hit the same roadblocks from the year before. Shortly before the 3 mile mark, I hit a little bit of "a wall" as I felt some tightness in my shins and some minor fatigue started setting in. I slowed down my pace to get myself back in track. The strategy worked as I was comfortably able to pick up the pace for the last half mile. I wanted to finish strong and I was able get into a decent stride to finish out.

Now for the important stuff...here were my stats according to the sensor system that is used for the run:

• In 2010, I completed the run in 43:20.6 with a 10:03 mile pace.
• In 2011, I completed the run in 41:15.8 with a 9:30 mile pace.
• Out of the 1,201 runners, I came in at 577 (just barely made the top half) and I was 42nd out of the 61 runners in my age group.

With a 5K and a 7K under my belt, I have one month to build up to my next run Southern Indiana Classic Half marathon (13.1 miles).