Fort4Fitness 2021 - half/10k

We ran in our 9th consecutive Fort4Fitness Fall Festival this past Saturday. Jane ran the 10k and I did the Half Marathon. Once again it was a beautiful day weather-wise. It was nice to be "live" again, after doing a virtual run last year.

Jane started at 7:30 in the morning (actually 7:45, because they started each corral 5 minutes apart - for spacing). My start time was 8:30 (8:35). As you can see in the chart below of all our Fort4Fitness fall runs, Jane did a commendable 1:05, and I did just over 10-minute/miles for a 2:12 (even though my watch said I ran 9:57 miles!). 

Actually, my first 7 miles were all over 10-minute pace, and the final 6 were all under. The last 5k was actually my fastest this year at 28-something (on my watch). My last 3 miles were around a 9:15 pace. I attribute that to 1) purposely starting slow; 2) having a couple friends jog alongside me at various points and I forgot what I was doing; and 3) running into Lyndsey and Sarah towards the end and again forgetting about my pace and just 'running.' 

I honestly could have run faster, but I didn't really want to. This was another training run. I just wanted to enjoy this day. It was so good to run in a somewhat large event again. However, I would forget about my form and reverted to some bad habits when I did. My left calf was a little sore Sunday because of it.

There were several times where I stopped or slowed down to chat with people. I came up on a guy who comes into my Y around mile 7 and ran with him for a bit. Around mile 9 or so I saw a friend of Drew Carrie laying along the road. His feet were cramping. I chatted with him for a couple minutes. Eddie and Ryan ran alongside me and chatted, but they didn't slow me down. I guess I did also stop at 3 stations for beer shots and a brief chat. And...

Perhaps my biggest regret was the last .1 mile. After entering the stadium I came upon a lady who appeared to be struggling. I thought I would do the nice thing, and I told her I wasn't going to pass her right at the end, but we could run in together. She was not amused. I don't even remember what all she said. I just stayed behind her then and didn't say any more, but also didn't pass her. She was going so slow... I wish now I'd just went past her and not said anything at all. I was trying to be nice and encourage her but, as usual, it apparently didn't come out that way.

Anyway, it was an enjoyable morning and so fun being with all the people again. I wish it could last longer. I am back at it now and did a comfortable 5-mile run Monday after work. Wednesday is 10 miles, then another 5 on Thursday and... 20 this weekend.

Here is the list of our Fort4Fitness runs through the years:

YEAR	DAN	JANE
2012	Half (1:47)	10k (1:03)
2013	Half (2:26)	Half (2:26)
2014	10k (1:15)	10k (1:15)
2015	Half (2:27)	Half (2:27)
2016	Half (2:36)	Half (2:36)
2017	10k (1:03)	10k (1:03)
2018	Marathon (4:30)	Half (2:16)
2019	Marathon (4:39)	Half (2:37)
2020	Marathon (5:40/4:56) *virtual	10K (?)
2021	Half (2:12)	10k (1:05)

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2 Corinthians 13:14

 “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”