April Fools 4 miler

Yesterday was the 4 miler in Salisbury.  This time though, we weren't running the beach fighting an incoming storm, so it was considerably easier.  No wind to contend with.  I went for a 3 mile run on Friday and I had done the 6 miles on Wednesday, so I was clearly all set with this race.  It seemed a lot longer than it was though, and I think I've figured it out.  As much as I love flat roads, I also find them incredibly boring.  Especially if the race is a loop.  The same scenery there and back is just not doing it for me.
I ran with a group of people again.  There were 7 of us all together.  For one of us, it was the first time running any mileage over 3. She did pretty well too, came in around 40:50.  Three members of the group are super speedy and crossed somewhere in the 20s, and the other three, myself included, crossed in the 30s.  When I got to the 2 mile mark there was a running clock which was at about 17 minutes.  Pretty good right? If I had been doing a 3 miler, I could've had my best time ever I think.  Unfortunately, there were still 2 miles to go, and I know I slowed down a bit.  I stopped for the water because I was having trouble inhaling all the way, which added a few seconds to my time.  However, I could tell it was more than just that, because between the 2 - 3 mile stretch suddenly a lot of people from behind were passing me.  I was getting a little disappointed, to be honest.  I really wanted to go faster than I was going and it felt like it was taking me forever to get back to the beginning, which was really the end.  As I rounded the last corner I didn't think I had anything left in me, but as always, I managed to put on a burst of speed.  Mostly it was because I saw the clock and I knew I was doing much better than I thought, so I wanted to keep that up.  As it stands, this was my final time, taken directly from the cool running website.  It shows that I came in 469 overall, out of 900 something, and 39 of 92 in my age group.  My time is 36.02 with a 9.01 minute mile, and the gun time was 36.19, which is the difference from when the race started to when I crossed the starting line.

469  39/92   F2029      ALLISON RUNYAN       Lynn MA            28 F   441   36:02.4  9:01   36:19.3 

Overall, I have to say, I was satisfied with the time.  It still ended up being my best time ever.  I was really hoping to get it down to under a 9 minute mile.  So my goal for the race this Sunday and the next is to get my time down to at least an 8:57.  Once I achieve that, I will start focusing more on my half-marathon training, as I believe I'll be registering for that on Friday.....Can you feel the impending doom? I can....  

I have no pictures for you today, I know, you're super disappointed.  Maybe next time.