Goldy's Run, 4/14/12 - 10 mile

This was the first major race of 2012.  I "ran" the Valentine's Day 5K in February, but it was a total fun run and speed was not the objective.
Goldy's Run begins just outside of the Gopher football stadium in Minneapolis.  I knew very little about the route when I started the race, so I just tried to play it by ear.  My PR at a 10 mile distance is 1:17:00, and I knew I didn't stand a chance to get close to that.  I typically try to keep it around 1:20, but that's for later in the racing season when I have some speed work under my belt.
So for this race I was shooting for around 1:24 to 1:26.  My friend Tammy was running with me and she said that she'd be happy with a 1:26 or so - a perfect running partner!
The race started off down University Avenue toward the river.  It was pretty crowded for the first mile or two, with little opportunity to pass others.  There was an early hill at about mile 2.  I also noticed that the first mile marker was at the 1.09 mile mark on my Garmin.  Others noticed the same thing.  This 0.09 to 0.10 discrepancy held throughout the race, which was kind of a bummer.
The race had several large hills in the last half of the race, which really tired the runners out.  The weather was perfect, but not good enough to relieve us from those darn hills.  There was one especially steep one at about mile 8.5 as you cross the river for the final time and arrive back into the U of MN campus.  We needed a short walking break at the top of this hill.
I finished in just over 1:25, and Tammy finished in the 1:26's.  I felt pretty good at the end, but definitely tired.  I don't know how much faster I could have finished if I had run on my own (if at all).  Overall, a good kick-off to the 2012 racing season.  Next up, Trail Mix next weekend!