So today, Abbie, Sara, Tracie and I drove downtown for the Pigskin Classic. Which is a 5K that centers around the OSU/MSU football game. It was a sea of red, with a few blues thrown in. It was set up on West 6th in front of the bar district. There was a tailgate, so there was a mix of a crowd - drunk college kids, tarted up women in high heeled boots, runners, kids, parents. It was cold today. I walked the dogs before I left this morning to test what I had on - just a pair of running pants with some tight shorts underneath, a thin brooks long sleeve shirt and a vest, with gloves and an ear warmer. I was slightly chilly so I knew I would be okay. When we got downtown though it was really windy and I felt like I didn't have enough on.

So, the bell went off and we ran from West 6th, down St. Clair, down a big hill to marginal road and ran around the Browns stadium, down marginal and then retraced our steps. The first mile I did in 7:58! Which is really fast for me, but there was a downhill thrown in. I felt great the first 2 miles, stopped quickly at the water stop at 1.5 miles and ran hard up to mile 2, which was 16:25. But then on the way back, I was faced with the big hill we ran down. At this point I had started to get overheated and feeling all sticky and gross, so I pulled off my gloves and my headband and then my bangs were driving me crazy. I charged up the hill, but had to stop at one point and catch my breath. Booo. I was on track to PR, but since I let the hill defeat me my chip time was 27:30. Not the worst I have ever done, but not the best at all. Afterwards we got some coffee from starbucks (yummm soy sugar free gingerbread latte), talked to a few people we ran into from CTC and then headed to the tailgate. It was hella cold and the outdoor part seemed to be where all the drunks were gathering so we headed into the Blind Pig and found a nice basement corner with couches and congregated there. We met up with about 4 of people we knew and hung out for awhile. It was fun.

Now I am home and sleeppppy. I think I am going to take a nap. I was going to go swim today, but since I have the half tomorrow, I think I am just going to rest up. Abbie and I decided we are going to start doing speedwork together once a week. I am looking forward to that. I really want to be a solid 9 min miler for my next marathon. I am certainly a 9 min miler nowadays for 10Ks and below, but I need to be able to maintain that comfortably for 4 hours. Abbie is doing Big Sur and I am doing the Flying Pig, so we should be able to do some long runs together which will be nice. It's going to be hard to train through winter again.

Man my knees are sore today....better take some ibuprofren. Gary will be home soon and we're going to go to the Cheesecake Factory and use a giftcard I have. They have the stupidest portion sizes at that place. Their salads could feed a family of 3. Maybe we'll just get some appetizers. $25 will go quick I'm sure.