Kerry's Running Blog

Felt really crummy this morning when the alarm went off. If I hadn't told Richard and Lloyd that I'd be there, I would have just continued to sleep. My throat was as sore as I can ever remember yesterday afternoon and evening. Nothing to seemed to help much. When I finally did get to sleep, I slept quite soundly.

Lloyd had recovered well from Saturday's run and Richard's knee is about healed, so they were both doing quite well. Richard was able to run the entire way to the flag pole! Lloyd continued on with a ten mile run and I accompanied Richard around the pond and back home.

Felt a lot better yesterday (after a miserable night). The sore throat was almost entirely gone and I only had an occasional cough. My daughter's YW activity was a Daddy/Daughter softball game and even though we arrived late (because of a soccer game that didn't get over until 7), we still had a chance to chase down a few fly balls. It felt good to run around. My legs and lungs were both in good shape. I only got once chance to bat and hit a line drive right to the shortstop.

 I'd planned to run at least five this morning and even got to bed early, but as soon as I laid down I started to cough. I'd sit up for a while longer and feel better, but as soon as I laid down again I'd start to cough. After repeating that cycle a few times, I knew I'd have to bag this morning's run. I know I won't be 100 percent for Saturday's race, but I should be able to finish.
 

Just a little run to see if the legs were still working. I'm still getting over a cold and the coughing and sore throat still bother me at times, but my legs felt good today and even had some extra bounce. The temperature at noon was fairly pleasant.

I slept fairly well before the race, but I woke up coughing again and went and slept on the couch so as not to disturb Laureen. I ended up having to take some medicine as I'd get too congested when I tried to lay down in a semi-reclining position. I was dragging a bit to eat and get out of the house, but started to feel a lot better on the ride down. I picked up my number and got on the bus sometime around 5:45. On the way up I sat next to a guy from Wyoming that was running his first half marathon. His dad (Gary Killpack, who is in my AG) has been running for a long time so he pretty much knew what to expect.

After walking up from the bus dropoff I was happy to run into Paul, Tom and Nathan. That's the fun part about any race -- seeing your buddies. I warmed up with Paul by running further up the road and then we saw Darin Cable just before the start. The race started close to 7:30 and I felt a little better than expected once we got underway. I had a few sharp pains in my left ankle that didn't really develop into anything. I averaged close to 7:00 minute pace on the downhill sections and more around 7:45 on the uphill sections. I never felt that tired during the race, but couldn't have run it much faster than I did. Kerry Steadman passed me around mile 9, but I just couldn't go after him today. He beat me by a couple of minutes. Even though I was slower this year, I somehow managed to finish in the top 100 men and got a medal for it. I was third place in my age group, but was unable to stay for the awards as I needed to get home and coach my daughter's soccer team. Paul, Tom, Nathan and Darin all did really well.