Route: This route has a lot of hills disguised as bridges. It's fun to run along the river in Kentucky, and I love that the last mile is a slight down hill.
Weather: Garmin says it was 45* with 7mph winds. The winds were insignificant, which made a nice change for me.
Wardrobe: Mom's instructions were that I had to be easy to see. I wore my happy pants, yellow socks, arm sleeves, and had a red throw away shirt on top, which I kept on the whole race.
Execution: Freaking perfect! Coming through the levee in Newport I found this race walker that was also trying to do a 12:00/mile pace. We worked together really well. He was much stronger than me on the up hills, so I followed him every time. I had an easier time with the downhills, so he followed me there.
Nutrition: I treated this day like a 10 mile run, so I ate a bite of my larabar every mile, and took water whenever I wanted it.
Bonus: Mom saw me at the start and mile 4. Dad saw me at mile 4 but missed me at the start. It makes my heart big when my parents come out to see me!
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