4 mile run 2007

I had entered the 4 mile run in spring, but I didn't have any time to train this year, as well as a very persistent knee injury. But as I had the ticket anyway, I decided to just run it and see. Since I quite smoking earlier this year my stamina was on a reasonable level anyway, and climbing twice a week I know my muscles are reasonably developed. My leg muscles not nearly as much as upper body muscles obviously - I guess the 25 minute bike ride to Kardinge twice a week is what I had to rely on.
I worried more about my knee injury. My left knee starts aching if run for more than 10 minutes or so, and after a while the joint starts the stiffen to a point I can't run anymore. I had gotten a brace for this, but never tested it. As I walked from my home to the start of the race in Haren I gently tested my knee, it seemed to be doing fine. I was reasonably warmed up by the time I got to the starting line, so I started at a pace I hoped to be able to maintain for the 4 miles. Six or seven minutes into the race my knee started to act up unfortunately. I assumed I wouldn't be able to finish the race. I tried changing tempo (longer strides) which seemed to help a little. The pain in my knee didn't go away, but it didn't get worse either. I checked my stopwatch and to my astonishment I wasn't doing as bad as I feared beforehand. I didn't have much left near the end though and even had to slow down a bit (usually my second half is faster then the first half). But I finished in 37:37, which is a time I'm quite happy with considering the circumstances!
I'll post some pictures tomorrow when the organisation has put them online.