Smelling the roses

I woke up around 6am this morning to run the 10K race at the annual South Pasadena Tiger Run. It was a smaller race with only 500+ people than the one in March, but you can still feel energy in the cold morning air. Marvin and some of his friends from the Pasadena Triathlon Club joined in the fun and we took off once the horn blew. Like any race, it took the first mile to get all the aches and creaks out before it was time to cut loose. It was a good, tough run around the suburb community of South Pasadena, with two large hills on the second half of the race. I didn't hear a lot of cursing this time around - only silence on the hills and a lot of heavy breathing. =)

Other than a small misstep around the 4 mile mark, I was feeling really good throughout the race and a lot stronger than before. A good amount of it I have to credit to the 26/30 challenge I undertook by Marvin, where I would run at least 2.5 miles for 26 of the 30 days in November. It was a demanding month of running to say the least, but the training paid off when I crossed the finish line at a time of 51:58 - almost 5 minutes faster than my March race time! =) Hope to keep up the pace for next week's Rose Bowl half-marathon.

Spent the rest of the day relaxing and going to Aaron's USC party with the guys. Although I am predominantly a Cal fan, it has been a pretty disappointing season for us, and it was just good times to spend a day with friends cheering for a team I was actually raised in before college (i.e. my Dad). I will probably get legally killed for saying this, but whatever...I had fun.

Rose Bowl (Half-Marathon & football), here I come...