New Year's Day run

So 2011 has kicked off nicely...

A bunch of fellow runners and I drove out to Marathon Sports (running store) in Wellesley, MA which is right along the course of the Boston Marathon. The plan was to gather and then run back into Boston -- 11 miles to ring in 2011 -- finishing with post-run splendors (beer and pizza) at Crossroads Irish Pub on Beacon Street (the pub will be mentioned in the March 2011 issue of Runner's World).

We started the run at 12noon, just enough time to recover from the prior night's NYE festivities. There were about 40-50 runners, or maybe more, that joined in on the run. I ended up running a bit faster than I anticipated, but felt good the whole way - then hung out at Crossroads for quite a while afterwards. Great run with a great group of folks.

Distance: 11.01 miles
Time: 1:27:56
Pace: 7:59 min/mile
GPS map: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/ixr-BlpbC2c
(mouse over the mile markers in the map to see the splits)

Notably, the mile 6 split of 8:39/mile was relatively slow, no doubt due to the infamous Heartbreak Hill.

As an aside, I stumbled upon my Virgo horoscope on this new year's day (1/1/11), here's an excerpt: "You're at a crossroads right now -- and time is running out."
Well, I was at a "crossroads" today and hey, "running" got a mention too, interesting...

Happy New Year everyone!