Haven't had the best training recently. School has been absolutely insane with xc, seniors, juniors, and of course teaching 6th grade geography! Haven't run since last Monday so not sure how the race was going to go. WARM-UP: (.75 miles @ 9:52 pace) Got to the race about an hour and a half early up in North Adams. Got my shirt and bib number and then went and parked about 3 blocks away at the Big Y supermarket. I needed to be able to make a "getaway" after the race, as there is a parade afterwards for several hours and they block off the south bound side of Route 8. Jogged up and down Main Street and a couple side streets. Came back and stretched near the church. Thought about my goals: A) Sub 23:00 B) Sub 24:00 C) Anything under 25:00. THE RACE: (3.11 miles in 22:44; @ 7:18 pace) The race started without a hitch. I lined up in the third row and just prepared for the ride. The opening .5 was downhill on Main Street, followed by a left, up and over a bridge out of town, a long uphill and circle before turning around and coming back uphill. A tough course. We went out way too fast. I was in about 50th place at the 1/2 mile mark and I was running a 6:30 pace. Soon people started peeling off as they were tiring. I was still holding my own and though I was slowing down to my 7:20-7:30 pace, I was moving up places. Got up to as far as 32nd place and even with the first overall woman (who beat me by about :45 seconds). I just did not have enough in the tank at the end, which is understandable considering I have not done speed work OR much running for that matter in the last week. Stayed strong and listened to no less than six of my BArT kids cheering me on saying "Go Mr. Griffin!" or "Run faster shorty short shorts!" Crossed the finish line pleasantly tired, tied for 37th place overall. COOL DOWN: (2.3 miles) After finishing the race I did a short cooldown, stayed for the awards ceremony only to find out I did not place in my age division because I was in the 19-29 age group. They had a 13 and under, 14-18, and 20-29 :(. I think they should have split it into 20-24 as the top 3 places were scooped up by 28 and 29 year olds that were in a different league. This was fun and I can't wait to do it next year! Not long now until the wedding!! | 
