overtaking haynes

so i'm not going to call this a race report even though i paid $40 today. i guess i was hopeful that i wouldn't be pathetic and would be able to run close to 1:25. i was positive i wouldn't run 1:24 on this course like i did in '05 because there is a 250ft climb starting at mile 8 or so and my mileage has been non existent. i had been good with 5 mile temp runs. unfortunately that was about all i had in me! 

 at beginning of race i said hi to this 50yr old guy that lives on my road and who is faster than me. i hoped to not completely embarrass myself...

 the course started out pretty flat and the leaders didn't really take off. a bunch of kenyan looking runners vying for the $500 first place prize. i came through the first mile in 5:58 purposely slowing down after i saw the 1/2 mile split. one annoying thing was that every mile was 1.02 miles on my gps watch. i came through the 2 mile mark in 12:16 and still had no idea what lay in store. the next mile was similar. i noticed by mile four that i was down to about 6:25-6:30 pace....not good. came through the 5 mile in 31:37. not bad but that was pretty much it for me. i started hitting 6:52's for the next couple miles and then at mile 8 i was just done. i was a good sport about it as the 100's of people of all shapes and sizes and genders started passing me while i walked at times. the worst 1/2 marathon finish of my life by 6 minutes in 1:34 and change. my last mile was literally 11 mins on a downhill.

 lesson learned. if you have doubts, then you already know they're true. i will not be running many trail races this year because i am a long way off from being in shape to race more than a 10k.

 sorry you won't be beating me at the trail race this weekend haynes :)

 if you beat my time from last year you win though. i guess i need to decide whether i want to run 2 ultras a year or be able to run more consistently. my right leg is still a little strained from trying to run the weekend after the race over a month ago now.