Tassie wins!

You wouldn't think it from her sweetheart demeanor, but our little Tassie is one hellaciously competitive athlete.  This morning she ran her 3rd consecutive Umstead Coalition 4 mile race.  It is one of a handful around here that allows you to run with your dog.

Tassie and I ran together in 2009; Tassie and Bri ran in 2010.  This was our return year.  The bar was set at 28:52 last season with a strong sub-7 final mile.  Tassie had a better pacer.

This year we took it out a bit too fast - 6:22 for the first mile.  Tassie was fired up.

Turn your head sideways to watch

We climbed the long hill at the 1.5 mile mark still feeling good, but the end of the hill put a hurting on our pace.  13:39 at the 2 mile turnaround.  At this point we had a solid 8th or 9th place overall position and were well ahead of our main competitors, another guy and his fit looking dog.  Tassie gave them a wiggle and kept running.

Mile 3 was solid, we held 7:05 somewhat reluctantly.

Mile 4 we got a bit lazy and complacent and ran in with a 7:40 or so to finish with 28:22.  This is a 30 second PR but the pacing was atrocious.  I have to take the blame for that.  Tassie just wants to run.

All was well, all smiles at the finish.

 Tassie wins!