I was out last week with the running guys and wives at Red Ginger (tasty food by the way) discussing upcoming race plans. I really haven't had any due to using graduate school as an excuse. I still think it is valid. The guys encouraged me to sign up for this half so I decided to hop in and see what would happen on not much training other than just putting in miles, a few workouts with the high school kids, weights, and core workouts. I really had no pressure going into this race. I met up with Dave and did 5 miles of a warm up. It seemed a touch long but I felt like I needed to get in a solid warm up for the race. The plan was to go out and see if I could lock in at 5:35/mile. The course is honest and I run in almost everyday so I knew where I could push and where I needed to be a little more conservative. I started out for the first two miles and was in the top 15 and just relaxed through the first couple miles. I could see people struggling early on so this gave me a boost of confidence. I hardly looked at my watch and just decided to pick people off. I caught up to one of the Howell boys and also ran with Bryant Jensen for a few miles up through about the half climbing into Bloomington Hills. They both took off like they got shot out of a cannon and I was standing still. Nice little hill to play with made for an enjoyable middle section of the race. I felt really good through about mile 11 and I was catching up to the 7th place guy (Matt Poulsen) when I could hear someone behind me. I ran neck and neck with this guy for about a mile and then with about a half mile to go he accidentally clipped me and threw my rhythm off a little. No harm no foul but it threw me off a little bit. I dropped a touch but almost caught him at the end. 1:13:34 for my time and 9th overall is very good considering what I have done the last forever it seems. I was pleased with my effort and was very happy I raced. It felt good to do it again. 2.5 mile cool down with Dave including a VRPB. This might be the race to get my b*tt moving again with the faster stuff. I need to do it. I know the weights and core workouts paid off today. I felt pretty strong throughout the race and I attribute it to doing this the last couple months. Here I go! On to the next race. | 