For the fourth year, I ran the Papa John’s 10-miler in Louisville. Although the course is extremely hilly, I feel it is a good training run for the Indianapolis mini-marathon at the beginning of May. This year, I was much more anxious about how the race would go. I didn’t feel like my training has been the best and I was worried about those darn hills. Honestly, I don’t really run hills here – I do most of my training runs on the treadmill early in the morning before Amy wakes up. On the weekends, when I run outside, typically there are no hills like the ones I encountered during the race. But, at least I mentally was prepared for the hills, if not necessarily physically prepared.
At the start of the race, weather conditions were almost perfect. It was a little warm, at least to be running 10 miles, but there were clouds and a nice breeze. During almost the entire race, I felt pretty good. The hills were challenging, though I expected them to be that way. During the last two miles or so, the rain began. It wasn’t too bad until I came to the last hill where the rain was pelting me in the eyes. But, I think it made me run that much harder so I could get out of the rain! The rain stopped by the time I entered the stadium to finish the race. My final race time was 1:26:01, which was 25 seconds faster than last year. I’ll take the improvement!! J Amy stayed at home with my mom, especially since there was a chance of rain, which it did rain! I think she enjoyed playing with Grandma and cousin, Samantha, more than cheering for Mom during the race! My sister-in-law, Thuydung, also ran the race!
