Gaelic Gallop 2014

WOW... What a race!!   The Gaelic Gaelic 2014 was great time once again... the Gallop is an annual 8K road race held in Dyersville, IA coinciding with the city's St. Patties Day celebration.  Temperatures were chilly right around 31 degrees but that did not stop over 500 people from getting out and enjoying a good time.  We had about 25 runners from the Dubuque Running Club out today, it is great to see so many of Dubuque's runners becoming antiquated through this group with new faces arriving every run... just two years ago most of us were at this same event by ourselves and man is it much more fun now as a group.

So just when I thought I was starting to get a handle on my paces I went out and really surprised myself today.  Going into the race this morning I had planned on hitting a 6:30 with a pace in the back of my head around 6:21 which would be a minute drop from last years 7:21 pace... well my legs had another plan.  Right from the start I kicked off around a 5:30 pace, a little over a 1/2 mile into the race I forced myself to slow down, bringing my mile 1 to a 6:04 pace... mile 2 I slowed down to a 6:21 thinking I could in no way keep up a 6 minute pace for 5 miles, however I felt so strong at the turn around I dropped back down finishing the last three miles at a 6:04, 6:10 and the final mile at a 5:54 pace.  The best part was as I ran through the finish line I felt strong enough to keep going... I feel very happy on the 6:06 finish pace and know I can step it up.  I've always thought that running sub 6 minutes on race day was out of my league but I can say today I'm fully confident before long I'll be busting the 6 minute barrier and charting new territory.

So other than just me and my race, it was a great event and an awesome time to watch the other Dubuque Running Club members PR their races.  I am so proud of every DRC member and the effort they put into their training, I can say for certain that my inspiration for getting out and crushing my workouts comes from those around me doing the same.  It's exciting to see this group of runners progressing as they are...  I believe the credit is due to our pack as a whole and the motivation we provide each other to keep pushing hard.

So as I reluctantly hit the reset button on my Garmin I remembered once again that the race is over and the stage is reset for the next challenge, I can say with confidence I'm up for the challenge and more excited for 2014 with each passing stride!