Let me start by saying this is a race I probably won't run again unless it's to qualify for half fanatics or used as a training run or something... I'm not very impressed with the route.

The first half mile was downhill, which in normal situations would be ok by me but it made it difficult for me to start out slowly, which is what I needed considering my pinched nerve issue. Then the next mile (yes, next MILE) was uphill. S.U.C.K.Y!! That really killed my motivation b/c as I was trying to "run" up the hill, I got passed by a walker... for reals. It was on this hill that I took the very last place in the race, another blow to my motivation. For the next 2 miles, I spent the whole time convincing myself that last was ok b/c I'm not running at full capacity because of my literal pain in the butt.

After finally getting over the "I'm last" blues, I changed my plan of attack from 5:1 intervals to whatever feels right:whatever feels right. lol After the 7 mile marker, I saw the girls who passed me during mile 2. I made it my goal to catch them. I caught them and then passed them. And then left them in my dust. I don't know what happened to them because they didn't show up on the results so I wonder if they quit?? That's too bad too b/c as I was leaving the area after the race, I saw one of the girls nearing the finish - she was less than a block away. Just after reaching mile marker 9, I passed the girl in front of them. We walked and talked for a short while before I told her I was going to keep going in hopes of getting under 3 hours. At that point, it was impossible for me to meet that goal (less than 12 min miles needed to reach 3 hours), but I ignored that fact and kept moving.

The suckiest part came during the last 2 miles. I got moved to the sidewalk b/c the police support was ending and we couldn't utilize the streets anymore. The sidewalks in this part of the city sucked BADLY!!! They were sloped worse than the surfaces on Arsenal Island!! The mind-numbing part came when I entered the track on my way to the finish. I hate rubberized track surfaces b/c I feel like they take away so much of my momentum (when I have some) and it was brutal on my mind b/c I still had to run around the track to get to the finish line. Laurie and Emily were there though and Laurie sent out some cheers. I'm not sure if Emily did or not, probably did, but I didn't hear them. I only heard Laurie.

I finished nearly 2 minutes faster than I did at Princess and that's encouraging considering I'm "injured". Makes me wonder just how well I could have done without the injury if I managed a PR with an "injury".

My assessment of the course is pretty negative. I think they chose a very poor course and might not do this race again simply because of that. I found the course to be anything but inspiring. The beginning had a pretty nice view with historical houses and buildings to look at, but that only lasted til mile marker 5. After that, it was industrial or slummy, as in houses with no residents and "no trespassing" signs in the windows... old factories with windows busted out, semi-truck storage yards, a water treatment plant with open lagoons that REEKED, and broken-down streets. I know Rock Island has WAY better places to run b/c I've been through the area a few times. What would have been so wrong about running through the District?? They've done a lot of major work in that area and it's beautiful now! Or why not take us deeper into Rock Island instead of the industrial outskirts? I think a lot of my lack of motivation came directly from not having anything to look at or to allow my mind to wander. Instead, I was constantly watching the road to avoid potholes and unlevel concrete. Not impressed to say the least. The loss of police support after 3 hours was kind of uncool too b/c then we had to utilize the crappy sidewalks and didn't have anyone to ensure we made it back ok or didn't get hurt during those last couple of miles.

So, the negative (and possible deal-breaker for future participation) was the course, but the positive was the PR despite not being able to run at my top ability. If there's a different race to run next year, I'll likely choose it over the QCDC, but will probably run the QCDC again if there's not another option. My next race will be better. Next time I'll be running in beautiful Des Moines in the Dam to Dam 20k in support of Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy research - provided I make my fundraising goal... (only 40 bucks in so far... with less than 3 weeks to raise the rest... boooooo).

So, there it is... HM #2 in the books.