Rang In July 4th Running in the Dark

I celebrated Independence Day 2010 with a 10K race at midnight. Yes, you read that correctly. I ran at 12:00am. It was the Kiwanis Midnight Run in Dunedin. Despite the fact that it rained all day and there was cloud cover, the course was nice. You followed a candlelit path across a couple bridges into Honeymoon Island State Park and back.

I started this race strong. The pace for my first mile was 9:08. I stayed pretty true to that time the first four miles. Then my dinner came back to haunt me. Here's a tip for all you runners out there: Don't eat a large meal an hour and half before running. I really should have known better, but I was hungry. I am also not used to running races at midnight. Despite all that, I kept my pace under 10 minutes the entire race and finished with a 14 mph sprint to the finish line. My friend still says I conserve too much energy for the final 100 yards of races, but I really don't. I just like finishing strong, so I did deep and sprint at the end even if I am exhausted and my knees are hurting.

Overall, I finished this race a minute faster than the last 10K I ran in November. My new 10K PR is 58:55. But now is the time to kiss those nine minute miles goodbye. Marathon training begins on Sunday. So the new mantra is slow and steady to finish 26.2.