30+ striders. Proud of the boys crew. We hopped out to the middle of the road by Costco to help a family push their dead car to save a spot. 4.59 miles
Ran the Capstone course. I wasn't planning on running that far the day before the race but I really wanted to see the course. I really like it! Obviously it's much different than what I ran last week (slower and longer) but still fun to run. 6.46 miles
Capstone Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:58:06, Place overall: 2, Place in age division: 2
Total Distance
13.22
I got out hard and lead the race for the first 3 miles then my friend Zach Holt passed me. I was strong on the uphills. At around 4 miles another dude was right on my butt so I let him pass and tailed him the rest of the loop. I think he was trying to ditch me. Then some biker tried passing me but I told him I was racing so I wasn't going to pull off to the side. There were several paths he could've taken to avoid the racers. I yelled out "freakin bikers" to the runner in front of the me and he responded with something about being a biker. Then I put my earbud back in because I didn't want to hear what he had to say. I wanted to let loose and pass the guy on the downhill stretch but there wasn't much room. So I started to plan my attack for the 2nd loop. We got to the transition/finish area and home boy stopped. He was a 10k runner. He said: "I wouldn't have raced you if I knew you were doing the half." Marieta handed me a kickstart and I took a sip and charged into the 2nd loop. At this point I knew no one was going to catch me and that I was going to take 2nd to Zach. I kind of wish there were some more runners around to help me attack the hills. I was all by myself and did my best to keep competing. I walked a little on the 2 worst uphill sections. Then the last 2.5 miles I cruised! I was going up this hill and I started cramping in my inner thigh/groin area. I was really nervous I was going to suffer through that and have to walk. Luckily it only cramped when going uphill. So I shortened my stride and dug in for the last 2 miles. I had a really strong last mile! I like me some trail racin!
