Last race for 2010......report

Not really a race report, just an affirmation of my pleasure to be healed, healthy and racing! I missed some things more than others during my injury hiatus from August '09 thru September '10. One thing, biggest thing I missed is racing. I'm not one of those people that loves training and hates racing. I love racing, measuring myself against the other girls and, most of all, pushing myself to the limit. I love it. I also really missed the long runs. Not the 2.5 hour, ironman slow-mo runs, but the 10-13 mile runs where you can push the pace and still walk afterwards. I have crammed in as much racing as possible since late September (three triathlons, four road races) and I am happy to say, I've come out the other side in better shape, happier and healthy. Whew! The last race on Saturday was the Say No To Drugs 10K. No pressure, much harder course than the Turkey Trot 10K on Thanksgiving morning. I had a huge, for me, run mileage week after Key West Tri (44 run miles - normal Ironman run mileage for me) and had to take a couple days off as I just wasn't recovering well. One more 10K, just get through it. The course was quite difficult and I didn't have time goals, just wanted to be competitive. Turns out, I wasn't very competitive, the top 4 girls were way ahead of me so I had to race the guys around me. I ended up fifth overall, on the podium with really good pure runners, no shame. Ran nearly the exact same time as Turkey Trot on a harder course so I feel that the fitness is coming around. I need some general base mileage and will focus on that until the next planned race, St Pete Beach Classic 10K in mid January and Clearwater Halfathon (half marathon) one week later. We will get back into multisport training in January with guns blazing and full motivation. Make up year, lots of racing ahead. Merry Christmas to all and Happy 2011, looking forward!
Cheers