Running is therapy

Yesterday was the Great Pumpkin Chase in downtown Harrisburg. I highly recommend it as a race you should run, if for no other reason than the bangin’ t-shirts.

My goal for this race was to grab a 7:30 first mile and try very hard to hang on. I figured it would be difficult to do, and that I would fall off as the race went on, but that was the plan. 7:30’s give you a 23:18 (just a little faster than my current PR (which was aided by the flatness of the course on which it was run (I might add))).

The first .25 mile is run around City Island. There were a lot of people on the island, and it was difficult to make headway around everyone. John and I were having a good time racing each other around the island and running through the puddles and drizzle.

I crossed the bridge over to Front Street and that’s where I realized I was in a race. I steadied my stride and pace and tried to get my breath back. At the one mile mark I was at 7:32. The second mile is run right along side the river on the lower walkway. I saw two people that I had met earlier that were running a roughly 7:30 pace and let them pull me around to the 2 mile mark. I pulled a little ahead of them to let them follow me for a bit at pace.

Toward the end of the race, with less than .25 miles to go I was wasted. I had nothing left at all. I was breathing very hard and just wanted the race to be over. I crossed the finish line in 23:40 (unofficial Garmin time) with a heart rate of 191. Good times…until my heart explodes out through my chest.

I had a good time running the race, and I would most likely run it again.

1 Mile Splits: 7:32, 7:36, 7:49 Last .1 mile in :42

Next race is the York White Rose 5 miler.

Motionbased Link

Some stats:
Distance: 3.1 miles
Time: 24:40 (pace: 7:38)
Average Heart Rate: 178 bpm
Calories Burned: 455