This race follows the river pathway and is mostly an out and back route. Instead of a mug for a participation item (we've had coffee mugs from this race for years), we got Defeet socks with the Calgary Roadrunners logo on them, and the race name on the other side. It was 48F/9C and clear out this morning when we lined up at the start. I could see my breath and we all kept our warm clothes on until the last minute. It was an even more intimate crowd than last year - I will be surprised if I see more than 100 racers when the results come out. I spent much of my race alone.

I did a little bit better than I expected to. I had hoped to match or better last year's time of 1:55 by 5 minutes at most, but when I got out there in the cool morning air I found myself doing 10 minute miles. I didn't take my first walk break until I'd run 25 minutes. By 4 miles I was just beginning to think how silly it was of me to expect myself to keep up this pace for the whole 10 when Bob-the-race walker caught up to me. He said he was aiming to complete the 10 miles in 100 minutes, and I let go of the weight of the long distance ahead of me. I tried to keep up with him for a while. By the end of the 6th mile I knew I was developing a hot spot under my right big toe, we'd lost 2 minutes off the 10min/mile pace, and I let him go on ahead.

I did manage one more 10 minute mile after that, but I was beginning to tire. I found a solid rhythm and stuck to it like my life depended on it. I tried to focus my attention on the river and the trees along the pathway, instead of my sore foot. There were Running Room groups out doing their long runs and I focused on catching up to on of their back of the packers. We exchanged encouraging words and I kept going.

After the Edworthy Park bridge I had 2 miles to go and was feeling pretty tired. The sun was starting to warm me up and I was glad I'd brought my water bottle along after all. I was not feeling very good by now. I was tired and my left leg ached all over. My right toe had definitely blistered and I was breathing hard. I did console myself with the fact that this tired feeling was what I was SUPPOSED to feel after trying my hardest for over an hour and a half.

I tried to pick it up in the last mile, just to see if I'd been keeping something in reserve subconsciously. Last year I'd found this amazing second wind and bounced happily, speedily in. This year there was no reserve left for a playful sprint. My legs stayed strong, but they weren't going to go any faster than the rhythm they'd set, and that was all there was to it.

There were a few folks clapping as I came round the last bend, and I let out a big whoop of joy as I approached the finish. The little crowd cheered heartily and I ran under the clock smiling. I was very pleased to see I had knocked off 10 minutes from my last year's time, at 1:45 (my watch time)!

I'm pretty sure I was last, but I didn't feel dejected or alone. I knew a few of the other racers from other CRR events. I was able to greet nearly every course marshall and volunteer by name throughout the race, and was happy about my improvement in speed.