Back in August I decided to make this my goal fall race. No marathon this fall for Tim. I want to see what I can do on some other distances that I've forgotten while obsessed with the 26.2 distance. So managed to get to the race just in time. I had enough time to pee on a tree a couple times and run a mile. The morning was about 40 with little wind and clear skies. Awesome running weather. Once the race started, two guys went out fast. One looked like he was doing some the low 5s and the other was in the mid-high 5s. I took it out at a bit easy in the first two miles - they rolled by in 12:08 or something. That was a little slower than intended but I had some time to make up the few seconds. By then I had grouped together with three guys and a lady who were exactly my pace. We trailed just the two guys in front. We stuck together and eventually dropped the woman in the 4th or 5th mile. (She was the eventual women winner). Then we set out to catch the 2nd place guy. The other two guys really pushed the pace for me to the turnaround. I didn't think we could catch the guy (I'd never beaten him in lots of races we've done together in the past) but they kept chipping into the gap. We dropped a few low 5:50's and a couple of mid-5:40's. By the turnaround we were really close and they pushed a 5:43 to catch and pass him. Fortunately for me, they had used a lot of gas to do this and I felt good. So with 5 to go I just poked out in front and pushed the pace a little bit. I felt awesome. I gapped them within a half mile - couldn't hear any breathing or footsteps behind me. From there it was just running afraid of being caught. I know I rolled over 10miles at 59:15 and then just tried to maintain. I dumped some cold water on my head a couple of times, which really got my attention.
Anyway, by the last mile I knew I wasn't going to collapse. With .6 to go I kicked it a little bit and manged to get in under 1:18. 1:17:45 2nd overall - yeehaw! My goal was to get under 1:20, with thoughts of a 1:18 in my head. So this result is very cool. I got a really nice trophy for this one. They actually awarded trophies for the podium not just 1st place overall. It is humbling to know that the winner crossed 9 minutes in front of me (1:08 something). That was a course record by 6 minutes. He hammered it. That is a good thing about running. It lets me feel good about my goals sometimes, but I am always reminded that there is the next guy to catch. It keeps me inspired to work hard (at least sometimes). Thoughts on the half marathon - I love it. It is long enough to stretch my endurance but not long enough that I'll down and out for a few weeks. I plan on racing 10 or 15 next Saturday, and another 1/2 on Thanksgiving, just for fun. I know I need to rethink my training for the next goal race. I threw a lot of miles at this one, but I think I need to do more speed work (if my body can stand it). What that is, I'm not sure. Maybe a 10K. Maybe I'll focus on trying to improve my 5K time. sorry it is a long report - cheers!
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