Mauri's Training

I don't have any huge race report like others on the blog.  But, I do want to say I'm happy with how the race went and motivates me to want to improve even more.  We were there early since Marlin was starting at 7am.  I felt like a slacker only doing the half.  Time went by pretty quickly and before I knew it the half marathon was starting.  I was alittle bit further back in the pack than I'd wanted to be when it started.  I knew I could  just do what I could do - I was alittle over half way back.  In the first mile we narrowed down onto a path which was a pain.  You couldn't get around anyone because there were so many people.  I knew I was losing time.  Once we could spread out I just tried to focus and keep going. I wanted to be careful with picking it up to fast because I knew I'd pay for it later on.  But, I was happy that I was under a 8.5 min mile.  I felt pretty good the first few miles and thought 'maybe I can maintain this....'.  

Around mile 5 as I was checking my (Garmin) watch a guy I'd just passed asked what our pace was.  We were at 8:22.  I ran with him for awhile and we talked about what we were hoping to finish at.  He picked up his pace and left.  I sure didn't expect to see him again.  Happy to report I saw him around mile 12 and said 'hello' - with a grin.  I could tell he was stuggling and he asked me how much further we had.  I knew I needed to keep picking it up now that we were getting towards the end.  I don't have what I ran each mile like Marlin does.  I'm not very good at doing that.  I just watched my time and my goal was to stay under an 8.5 min mile and not go beyond that pace.  I did get caught up at two of the aid stations making sure I got a good drink.  That's one thing I'll work on.  I know I lost time.  Between the path in the beginning and the aid stations I was happy with my time. Throughout the race I felt pretty good and either maintained or continued to pick it up more as time went on.

The course did have some hills, but I had a good time running this race. I am convinced now putting in the miles and training does pay off.  I loved seeing more people behind me that in front of me. I loved seeing everyone out there giving it all they had.  Here's the number that I do have. 

Finishing time:  1:51:08

Overall:  260th out of 1412 runners

Age group (50 - 54): 10th out of 56

Didn't have a chance to run yesterday since we were driving home from Coeur d'Alene.  Ran today after work for 7 miles.  Legs felt pretty good. It was alittle windy, but, overall, not to bad. 

Ran after work today around the river.  Legs just alittle tired than yesterday. Glad it wasn't quite so windy.  I'm pretty sure I'll run in the morning....hoping anyway.  Went home and worked in the yard.  

I didn't have to go to work until later this morning so I slept in and then went to the gym.  I kinda liked working less hours on a Friday.  Looking forward to the weekend.

I'm watching my two neice's this weekend so I wasn't sure how long of a run I'd be able to do this week.  Thank goodness for grandparents!  I was able to run 10.5 miles.  The last couple of laps around the river there were a few social people.  There is a guys who walks around the river all the time and each time I went by him he'd say something to me.  The last lap I ended up stopping and talking to him for a minute.  Then there was a young girl who actually started running with me.  She said she had recently started running and was training for a half marathon.  There was another gentlemen who talked briefly as I went by.   I was glad to get alittle over 10 miles in.  I did the last few because I didn't know if I'd be running tomorrow.    The rest of the day was spent with my two neice's and my mom going to look at hardwood floors.   Then I got to come home and clean our hardwood floors.