AM - 2.5 Twix. Ran a little with the dog to make my final decision on racing. Pick it up to race pace for about 1/4 just to see if it was even possible. Still very iffy, but I decided to give it a shot anyway.
DogTown Half Marathon 1:14:29
Didn't warm up any more, just taped up my leg and threw in some pain patches and hoped for the best. A little change in the course this year - start out by DATS and didn't go all the way up Majestic hill (made for a faster course - I had hoped for a solid 1:13 after running a mid-high 1:15 last year, but now just prayed to finish). Started off with a group of my boys in the 3rd place pack. We set a solid pace around 5:40-:45 and clicked off the miles. Every now and then we would dip into the :30's and thing felt okay aerobically, but I was very worried about my hammy - it really felt like it would pop at any minute, so I didn't dare push it any more; that's okay, though, because it helped keep the boys under control and able to finish strong. Our group broke up at around 10 and now Alex and Julien and I yo-yo'ed back and forth about 5 times. I was proud of all of them: Mitch finished very strong, Alex really responded each time I moved up to him, Julien fought like a beast the last couple miles, Carson battled stomach probs to finish solid, Logan really ran solid, and so did Mikey and Nathan. Then I ran down to finish with the girls and they were just doing awesome! They are such a tough group. I ran the last 1 1/2 with Ry. She wasn't feeling great, but fought on in for a 3 min PR. I've said stuff like this before, but I really don't think too many hs's in the country could match what we did today - 3 boys under 1:14:30 with a fourth who would have if not for his stomach and a fifth who could have if he was in town, then 2 (and a 3rd who didn't run and would have) at 1:18; then 5 girls under 1:31 (with two more who would have if they had run... recovering from injuries, well one is an 8th grader but I'm counting her!). (Peg black33 84)
Survived the week, dang hammy though. And completed my first race in 1 year (last was DogTown last year). If it wasn't for this hammy I think a very solid 1:13 would have happened; so progress.
Goals for next week: I really want to enjoy the Red Mountain 30K and hit a decent time, but I gotta get Gus leg better it is very sore and painful right now.
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