So, I finally have my target marathon for this fall. After trying for Chicago and New York, and failing, I figured I would wait to see what the new organizers of the Portland Marathon would come up with. By the time May Day rolled around there was still no announcement and I was getting a little antsy, but BAM, May 2nd the new race was announced!
It will be put on by Brooksee (they put on the "Revel" series of downhill marathons), which we knew. What we didn't know was the course and whether the City of Portland was actually going to play ball to get a first class event up and running. Thankfully, the new course looks GREAT and it appears Brooksee will take over the historic "Portland Marathon" name. I've heard great things about the Revel series, so I'm sure they'll do a fantastic job with the Portland Marathon. So I'm excited! It will remain on the traditional first Sunday of October.
New Portland Marathon course!
They were having a deal so I already signed up. $105 for the full, not bad. Unfortunately, that means I'm going to have to start officially marathon training soon. I'll need to mock up and plan and this time around I'm going to include speedwork. As usual, I'll run four times a week... two easy runs, one speed run, and then the long run. My main focus will just to be faster than last year (3:55), so I'll be working toward that this summer. Hard to believe I'll be facing twenty mile runs in the heat here soon. Oh well, bring it on.
Lately I have been really good about getting my runs in. As predicted, the turn in weather made it a lot easier to motivate myself to get out there. So I've been pretty good about the three weekday runs and then the long run on the weekend. Since I'm already in that routine, marathon training will just be increasing the mileage and getting a speed run in. Easy enough. For my long runs, I've basically only been doing ten miles, which seems like the right distance to (sort of?) stay in half shape. Which brings me to...
I'll be pacing the Hippie Chick Half Marathon tomorrow. This is a woman-centric event that I actually volunteered at with Libbie many years back as a flagger. This time, I have been recruited as a pacer though. They were trying to get me to do a faster pace time but I basically said I'll volunteer if I can do 10:00 or slower. I mean, I could probably pace 9:00/mile, but my actual half marathon time wouldn't be much faster than that. Plus, I'm trained for ten, not thirteen, and while I know I can do thirteen, the question of whether I could be consistent and not slow down toward the end isn't something I wanted to find out.
Anyways, I'm confident I can provide a solid, consistent pace at 10:00/mile so that's what I'll be doing! That's around what I do my long runs at, so the pace should be very familiar. The course is really flat and I'm good at "locking" into a pace, so I'm hoping I'll be a pacer that people will appreciate and not one that is all over the map! Looking at the results from last year, about 500 people ran it and about 10 would have been in my "area." So I won't likely be leading a large group. Luckily, I also have a fellow pacer, so it's not all on me, and many of the other pacers are male, so it won't be too awkward. Let's hope!
My first 10k in 18 months! Exciting I guess? Anyways, my prep for this race wasn't the greatest. I had basically done no speedwork since the Shamrock Run, and my friend was coming into town to do the race as well. Needless to say, the days leading up to the race weren't the best in terms of eating or drinking choices, but I kept it within reason as to not totally crash and burn during the race.
Honestly, if anything held me back, it was my legs. Thursday we went on a 6 mile run AND a 5.5 mile hike and then Friday we went on another hike through Ape Cave. About four miles there, but a lot of bouldering. My legs felt pretty worn Saturday, a day on which we did nothing, and they were still a little tired by the time the race rolled around Sunday. Not terribly so, but I may have been able to do teeny tiny bit quicker on fresh legs.
Again, this race would be a good benchmark for my current fitness level. I keep thinking I'm about to turn it up but then never do. I need to get some more races on the schedule. The weather appears to have finally turned in my favor (70 and sunny any day of the week over 45 and cloudy), so hopefully I can actually start doing some speedwork or something. I don't have any ambitious goals or anything, I think I'll just want to beat my MCM time this fall, but I need to actually, you know, do something, in order to make that happen.
RACE MORNING Thankfully this race wasn't ridiculously early, kicking off at 8:45am. We left the house shortly before 8am, so I was able to sleep into about 7:30am before throwing on some clothes and chugging a mug of coffee. I drove us downtown and parked in my standard Smart Park garage. That thing is like 8 blocks or less from everything! We approached Waterfront Park and marveled at the amount of people bustling about. This was a major production!
In usual Thomas fashion, I didn't want to be there too early, so we got there with about 25 minutes until the gun went off. We walked toward the bag check and there was the LONGEST LINE. Dammit! Did I mess up? Were we going to be stuck behind a bunch of walkers? Luckily, that line went amazingly fast. We checked our bag and still had about 15 minutes to go. With that, we wandered toward the start line and settled into the appropriate pace group of under eight minutes per mile.
THE RACE It was fun starting on Naito Parkway and not doing a giant out and back or a run up Barbur. Instead, we quickly turned west into the city and run through "scenic" Old Town/Chinatown. The people around me seemed to be going the right pace so I didn't have to weave very much despite there being a decent amount of people. A couple slowdowns, but nothing tragic. My goal was under 8:00/mile and I knew there was that giant bridge climb, so I was trying to target my miles around 7:50. If I could do that for the other five miles, then I could go 8:45 on the hill and still be at 7:59/mile.
My first mile hit in 7:53. Just about perfect. Despite not having done a 10k in a while, I felt like I paced myself correctly. For whatever reason, I can judge my 5k/10k/15k/half paces pretty well. Instinctual for me. Long story short, I settled into the correct pace and it felt like a 10k should. Challenging, not really comfortable, but sustainable for six miles.
Certified finishers.
The "hill" in this race, the bridge climb, was from miles 1.5 to 2. Only a half mile and after that, only rollers are worst. So I just did my normal hill strategy of trying to keep the same energy "output" as if I were running on flat ground. This meant I was doing the hill at about 9:20 or so for this level of effort. Not the fastest, but the hill ended pretty quickly and my mile time was 8:39, so I was a tiny bit ahead of schedule. This was the part over the Fremont Bridge. Unfortunately, we were not on the top deck, so while the view was good, it wasn't as good as it could have been. Plus, we were socked in with clouds so you couldn't even see the mountains.
After the climb, we got the downhill portion, and I knew I would want to take advantage of this and get a cushion of time for later on in the race. My pace on the third mile was 7:28 and honestly I was a little disappointed. I was hoping to go a little faster, but hey, I was still ahead of schedule. After we exited the bridge, we did a bunch of random streets in the industrial area around the Widmer plant and Interstate Avenue. Not very scenic, a couple tiny hills and downhills, not much to write home about. 7:38 fourth mile.
Eventually we wound our way out of that area and onto Interstate Avenue heading south. Major Portland Marathon flashbacks. That is about mile 23 and the site of many painful memories for me. Luckily, feeling much better this time around! 7:55 mile five. Crap. Can't quite make up the uphill on the downhill on these rollers. Still ahead of schedule but getting close. Need to finish strong. Over the Steel Bridge. I can see the finish line. That was all the visual I needed after an 8:05 mile six (oops!). 7:10/mile on that last .22 coming home.
AFTER PARTY
The after party beer festival.
I crossed the finish line with a great sense of relief! My watch had me at 7:55/mile, beating my goal. However, I also had it clocked at 6.27 miles, so I knew with the adjustment down to 6.22 it might be close. Luckily, when all was said and done, I averaged 7:59/mile. PHEW! Literally a couple seconds away from not meeting my goal.
Part of the draw for this race was the beer festival afterwards; hence, the "to Brews" part of the name. Everybody got 10 "tasting tickets" and then there were about a dozen breweries set up showing off their product. 1 ticket got you a 4oz taste, while 4 tickets got your whole cup filled up. The lines were already off the wall for these places, so I was set on full beers. The first we tasted as a dunkelweizen, usually one of my favorites, but this rendition from West Coast Grocery was just so-so. We then were able to taste whiskeys from Westward Whiskey for two tickets. These were delicious and very interesting to try! Our final four tickets went to another beer, this one an IPA from Laurelwood. Yummy!
With that, we headed home for a day of doing nothing and gluttony. Well earned!
Official Results: 49:35, 7:59/mile. 163/1831 overall, 119/726 male, 25/138 M30-34.
Hi all - as you know I've been very bad about updating my blog! As mentioned, I was struggling with motivation this winter but still made myself get out there. Most weeks I managed three runs, sometimes I only did two, but I ran enough to stay in somewhat decent shape as evidenced by my Shamrock performance. Since Shamrock, I have been doing the same thing, trying to get out there three times each week. Most of the time I am able to do so. The weather changing definitely is a big help.
What I need to do is get some races on my schedule. It is much more motivating when you are working toward something. So I need to get a half or two planned. However, I think I want to do some shorter races before I get back into "half mode." Most of my races these days are halves... and while that is my favorite distance, one goal this year is to get a little faster for the marathon so I can beat my time from last year. I want to get back into some speedwork this year, and having a couple 5Ks or 10Ks in the schedule will help motivate me to get those done. Then, come mid-June or whatever, I can then start focusing on the fall marathon with a half or two along the way.
On the topic of 10Ks, I have one this weekend! A friend is coming in from out of town and we are running the Bridge to Brews 10k. This is the final year they are running it over the Fremont Bridge, so that will be cool to experience while it is still a thing. Now, this race won't be ideal for testing my current fitness. Neither of us are going to take it super serious because we want to have fun in the days leading up to it. So that will include hikes and booze. Which won't be ideal come Sunday morning. However, we'll try not to screw ourselves over too much and then just run it hard and see what happens.
I do have a goal for this race... average under 8:00/mile. Earlier this year I did a few tempo runs where I managed to do four miles under 8... just barely. So that might be a stretch, but I think it would be possible with a hard effort. I did 8:10 at Shamrock, and that is three miles longer and generally hillier (this race isn't necessarily flat either). So I'm hoping I can get 7:50-something. We'll see. My preparation for this race won't be ideal, I've done no speed work since Shamrock, but maybe I'll be able to gut it out.
I wasn't really looking forward to the Shamrock Run this year, mostly because I felt so out of shape. I was a little run down after my marathon last fall and I had a hard time motivating myself this winter. As a result, I would say I peaked about September of last year and it's been downhill ever since. I've ran enough to keep my baseline fitness up, but this winter was not very productive. And frankly, I think I'm okay with that. As long as I don't completely stop running, we'll call that a win.
Visions were going through my head of just jogging this race and treating it as a long run. But pappa don't pay $55 or whatever it was to enjoy the sights. So even though I was convinced I would be setting a 15k PW, I decided to race it my hardest. At worst it would be a good barometer of my current fitness and a new "bottom" to compare my progress this year to. So I woke up at 7:30, met up with Katie and her adorable dog Ollie at 8:00, and headed downtown. Last like year, we parked in a garage just blocks from the start/finish line.
MILES 1-4: GENERALLY UPHILL (8:41, 8:36, 8:25, 9:11)
I have never seen weather this good for the Shamrock Run. Seriously. The usual weather is cold and drizzly, sometimes pouring. This year... was awesome! Mid-40s and sunny. Looking back, the last three Shamrocks have actually been really good though, so maybe it has a bad reputation that isn't quite deserving. I just remember that one year when it was POURING and that is stuck in my head.
Toward the beginning of the race.
Anyways, I was able to get into the 8-9 minute corral this year without issue. Getting to the right pace sign always used to be a challenge, however, the numbers in this race have dwindled which appears to have opened things up (that bastard of a half took a lot of people). When the race started I still had to do a little bobbing and weaving but nothing too bad. Within a mile I was with people almost exclusively going my pace. I set my watch to the time of day and just ran what I felt like a 15k should feel like. Since I'm pretty good at judging things like that I figured that would be the best way to run this race... checking my watch and seeing how slow I was would just be depressing!
With the new course you basically start going uphill almost instantly. In fact, the first almost half of the race is going generally uphill. There are flat parts and maybe a couple of minor downhills, but you are going up, up, up to the Chart House. I figured I would be in the mid-9s during these miles and then I would try to hit low 8s on the downhills. Overall I figured anything under 9:00/mile would be a victory. So it was surprising when these miles started rolling in at mid-8s. What? It was almost too good to believe!
I have always been a good uphill runner, but I hadn't trained on hills all winter. I used to all the time at PRC running the rollercoaster, but definitely not this last year. Things felt good though, it was a tough effort, but it felt sustainable. I knew I only had to get to the top of the hill and then gravity would be giving me a break as we headed back down. Before I knew it, I heard the bagpipers marking the top of the climb. Awesome!
MILES 5-9: GENERALLY DOWNHILL (8:04, 7:51, 7:56, 8:02, 7:37)
Nearing the finish line.
So the uphill didn't actually stop until mile 4.25, otherwise that 8:04 mile would have been something like 7:45. Finally some downhill relief! I've ran up and down Terwillager so many times I don't really have much to say other than it was just as I remember it! I still think the "old" course leads to a better time, the 3 flat, 3 hilly, 3 downhill set you up well for a good time. However, the new course isn't bad either. As you can see, I was doing pretty well these last five miles despite some upward bumps at times.
My legs and lungs felt great. I was honestly really surprised at how good I felt. I started to do some math in my head, and while I would probably still PW, it wouldn't be too hateful. Maybe only a couple minutes slower than last year. That would be pretty good all told. I made it my goal to try and hit under 8 on all these miles coming back and almost did it except for that 8:02. Honestly, there is a decent amount of uphill there, maybe almost half of the mile, so that isn't too shabby. That last mile is basically all downhill though and I took advantage.
Maybe about a half mile before the finish was the famous unofficial "beer aid station" put on by some fun people. Now that I'm fat and out of shape, I stop at it because YOLO. Anyways, a delicious little shot of beer! Gave me the strength I needed to keep grinding through the finish. I sprinted a little bit through the end and stopped my watch. I was expecting 1:18, 1:19 something. When I saw a 1:16 I almost shat my pants? Wait, what? Didn't I get a 1:16 last year? And was it a low 1:16? Did I just somehow NOT PW?
Those questions were unanswered for the moment. I quickly gobbled down my soup and beer and met Katie, who was just spectating this year. Upon checking my blog via my phone I learned I, in fact, did not PW. It was amazing how happy I was for my second worst 15k time ever. It almost felt as good as a PR! With how much I hibernated this winter it was good to see I still had something in me. Maybe some attempts at tempo runs the last few months were totally useless. Either way, it was another Shamrock in the books!
Official Time: 1:16:09, 8:10/mile. 440/2488 overall, 329/1242 male, 44/177 M30-34.
Spoiler alert... I may have crossed the finish line.
Well, I've been very bad about updating my blog recently! Although, I don't think I could have given much of a preview, this race is routine by now seeing this was going to be my SIXTH time doing it. My only goal was to get under two hours. This is never a good race to set an ambitious goal at... between the time change and typically unfavorable weather, it's a tough one.
Anyways, I flew out early on Thursday. My alarm went off at 3:45am and I was out the door by 4:00 for my 6:15am flight. Thankfully I breezed through security (government was still shutdown at this point) and so I had enough time to grab a coffee and a bite to eat. My layover was in Newark, and unfortunately, that flight was delayed by a couple hours. So I ended up in Miami around 9pm despite my early wake up. However, it was a blessing in disguise because I was ready to go to bed by midnight Miami time.
The rest of the trip was pretty low key. I've been to Miami so many times now I don't really do the tourist thing. I did make sure we went to the beach even if the weather wasn't the greatest. There was probably a grand total of 15 minutes of sun the two hours we were there but I still managed to get a light sunburn. HA. Accomplished my goal of swimming in the ocean despite the locals probably thinking I was crazy since it was only about 65 out.
PRE-RACE
This was probably the best I adjusted to east cost time in any of my years at this race. I actually got about 4.5 hours of sleep despite the 4:00am wakeup. Much better than the two and a half hours last year and the 90 minutes of sleep my first year! We drove and parked near the start line again, amazing how close you can end up getting without too much issue! I think a lot of people get freaked out about the thought of parking and end up taking other forms of transit (like we used to take the shuttle) but it's actually not that hard to find parking if you arrive an hour early. We'll keep that our little secret though.
The forecast called for heavy rain and it started raining on our way to the race. However, once we parked, the rain ceased. The forecast still looked bad, but it was dry for the moment. My friend and I bought had ponchos just in case, and we hung out in the car until about 5:45am. It stayed dry, so I left the car and hustled toward my corral (C). It was a giant clusterfuck trying to get in... I got there about 5:50 and there were probably 100 people grouped up around the entrance trying to get in and one worker slowly checking bibs. Eventually people got worried about missing the start and we pushed our way in there past the worker who just had to stand to the side. Kind of funny, because the start of the race was delayed 15 minutes anyways so we ended up having plenty of time.
MILES 1-4: OVER THE CAUSEWAY (8:46, 8:18, 8:41, 8:28)
Before I knew it I was running the Miami Half Marathon again. Other than the Shamrock Run, I haven't run any even more often. Crazy to think! The weather was holding off for the moment but that didn't mean it was ideal. It was about 66 degrees and humid at the start. Probably about 80-85% humidity. Thankfully it was overcast, so we didn't have to contend with the sun, but it was still too warm to really perform at your best, especially if you aren't acclimated to that weather!
As you can see from the picture, I was a slimy, wet mess at mile two before the sun even came up. Welcome to running in Florida! Since I didn't have any overly ambitious goals, I wasn't concerned with my time at all. In fact, I put my watch to the the time of day screen and only looked at my split when it beeped each mile. I know a proper half marathon pace by now, so I just tried to run around there while also taking the weather into consideration. This resulted in a mid-8 pace with some variation due to the ups and downs of the causeway.
MILES 5-8: SOUTH BEACH STRUTTING (8:48, 8:52, 8:47, 8:50)
Onto the annual section in South Beach! There were parts of the course here where the wind was blocked and without that blowing your body overheated very quickly. Luckily those stretches were only a couple miles at most. As you can see, I settled into a nice pace, a little slower than I thought I might be, but not too bad. At this point I made it my goal to finish under 9 minutes a mile overall. I've definitely slowed somewhat since the marathon, that is a post for another day, but if I could run under 9 with the conditions, I would be pretty happy.
The course changed a little again this year. Instead of the out and back section that had been introduced in recent years, they went back to a loop through a residential neighborhood and golf course. This was the route my first few years doing the race, so it was nice to get back to that "traditional" route - although, I did miss the energy of the out and back section. Overall I was still feeling pretty good here, my pace felt comfortable and I knew I could finish the race without too much of an issue. I made a special effort to take in the sights and crowds around me. Many times at this race I'm grinding so much I haven't been able to enjoy that.
MILES 9-13: ACROSS THE BAY TO THE FINISH (8:47, 8:47, 8:59, 9:11, 9:26)
This year I hit the Venetian Islands portion still feeling pretty good. That hasn't been the case some years! My first ever time in Miami (not for a race) I race across these things as part of my long run so this part has always held a special place in my heart! As you can see, my pace held up until about mile ten. Eventually the grind of the race did catch up with me. With most of my long runs being of the ten mile variety, it was really no surprise I started to poop out after ten. It was just an overall tiredness that took over, neither my lungs or legs were struggling in particular.
I did make a special point to acknowledge the toll booths at the end of the Venetian Causeway this year. That has always been a milestone for me (back to the mainland, almost to the finish) but last year I was so out of it I didn't even remember running through them. Well, I remember this year... the small victories. At this point of the race I also started power walking through the aid stations instead of a slow jog like earlier in the race. Anything to give my muscles a tiny little break before going back to the grind.
Anyways, not much to write home about here! There was that really great cheer section about mile eleven that imparted a lot of energy into us participants, then another two miles of boring downtown before finally weaving our way to the finish. They changed the route near the finish again this year, nothing too drastically different, we ended in the same place, but there was less weaving around this year and it seemed to be a more direct route to the finish. Anyways, I ran the last quarter mile at an 8:00/mile clip so I still had a little pep in my step at the end.
FINISH LINE & POST RACE
I'm not mad, just disappointed.
Done! Whew! I transitioned to a walk and... well, my legs almost gave out. So weird! They got all tingly and weak, something that never happens during a half marathon. I didn't even feel that bad at the end. What the heck? Anyways, it was temporary, within a few steps I was back to normal but that was a surprise. Guess I probably did push myself to the limit if that was the reaction of my body! Anyways, the rest of the chute was the normal fare, get your medal, get your food, get the hell out of there.
My friend didn't run the race this year so he was able to meet me after I finished and after a quick break to power down some food, we headed toward the beer tent. Michelob Ultra... AGAIN. That fucking company sponsors every freaking race. Ugh. BUT it actually tasted pretty good after the race. Once our beers were down, we headed back to his place and I took a big ol' fat three hour nap. Once I woke up we watched a little bit of the Pro Bowl and then headed to Pizza Hut, were I committed unspeakable acts with food.
Overall, a really fun trip and a good race. Love the Miami Half! The best part was, I think for the first time ever, I had no delays on my way back home. I actually arrived back as scheduled.
First of all, let me give you a little update on my training. I'll admit, it's been a grind since the Marine Corp Marathon. Just hard to stay motivated with nothing major on the horizon and the days being dark, cold, and often wet. The good news is my second week off did bring my legs back. I am no longer feeling the marathon anymore. My legs are recovered and are ready to rock whatever training I want to do. Unfortunately, I'm not all that motivated.
However, this was always a problem in the winter before. I've been here. You do the fall marathon, you work so hard to achieve that, and then there is a let down. You want a break and with the weather turning it's just very hard to have that same focus and motivation as the time leading up to your goal marathon. If it turns out like most other years, which I expect it to, I'll kind of slog through the winter and then pick it up again come March for the Shamrock Run. That always seems to be a kick start to the racing season.
For the Holiday Half, they were at a new location this year. Instead of starting at the Adidas North American headquarters, we started at the Daimler Trucks North American Headquarters. They are pretty close together but it did introduce a whole new element. That element? 200 feet up in the first mile. Yikes! However, that also meant 200 feet down in the last mile. Better to be going up when you are fresh and you could also run the race to poop out at 12 because the last mile you could just use gravity.
With the new location, I was unsure about the parking situation, so I did a very un-Thomaslike thing... I got there pretty early. The race started at 8am and I was rolling into the parking lot at 7am. I know, I know! Who am I? However, I am glad I did so, as people arriving not too much later got stuck in a GIANT traffic jam due to the traffic lights not being optimized/overridden for the flow of cars coming into the area.
I ended up just hanging out in my car until 7:45 or so and then headed toward the start line. It was cold, maybe 42 degrees, and pretty windy. There was rain threatening but thankfully none yet. I spotted Vincent at the start line so we chatted a little while we waited for the race to start. His goal for a while has been to go under 8:00/mile for a half (under 1:45), which I figured would be a good pace for me to start out at. I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to maintain it but I would give it a go.
THE WAY OUT (8:15, 7:43, 7:50, 8:05, 8:08, 7:54, 8:10) Vincent and I started off together and within a few blocks we were climbing up that hill. So while we were targeting under 8, we knew that first mile would be slower. Almost instantly I had a pretty good feeling this pace was going to be too much for me. I really hadn't done any speedwork during marathon training, or after, so the fact I wasn't quite as fast as before wasn't a surprise. I decided to wait it out and see how it felt once we were on flatter ground though.
Once up the hill, which wasn't too bad in all honesty, we locked into our pace. I hung on for a couple miles, but by mile four I decided I needed to let off the gas if I was going to finish the race without blowing up. I bid adieu to Vincent and then tried to lock into what I thought a half marathon pace was. I'm usually pretty good at determining my race speeds, so I ended up doing about an 8:10 pace. Not too far off the initial target. I still wanted to finish at my fastest just to give a baseline for my training going forward.
That 7:54 mile was a period of gentle downhill, so it wasn't like I got a second wind or anything. The course after the first mile was the same as last year, just tracing along the bluff past the University of Portland and into St. Johns. Whenever I run this stretch of road I always think about the Portland Marathon and some of the memories associated with it at this location - never good considering it was miles 21-24 or so. Anyways, at this point I was just clicking along at current half marathon pace. At exactly 6.555 miles we turned around a cone and headed back. I had high fived Vincent a few minutes back - he was having a good race.
THE WAY BACK (8:25, 8:31, 8:37, 8:42, 9:15, 8:15) As you can see, my pace fell off. Mile seven isn't really fair because that is the uphill part of the downhill I had talked about earlier, but once I was up that hill, my legs just didn't have it. I couldn't get back to my previous speed. This just wasn't good to be my race. So while I was still giving it a good effort, I wasn't going to kill myself. So I just settled into a comfortably hard pace and ground my way back to the finish. At this point the question was if I would be able to get under 1:50. As long as I got back at one forty something I would be happy enough.
Really not all that much to say about the way back. I was ready to be done as my legs just didn't have it in them this day. So it was just a matter of grinding back to the finish line. I went between periods of feeling okay and feeling pretty rough., I just wanted the damn thing over. Mentally I knew I just had to get to mile twelve because that last mile would be all downhill. Just keep grinding... this bluff is going on forever!
Finally I got to mile twelve and started the downhill. As you can see I sped up some, but I didn't have the legs to really attack it. Funny enough, I was the exact same speed going down it at the end than I was going up it at the beginning, haha. Oh well. The last few blocks to the finish line were flat but those weren't an issue. With the line in sight, I perked up enough to do that final tenth of a mile at 7:25 pace. So I guess the legs weren't completely gone! I rolled through the finish line and stopped my watch at 1:48:59. Whew! Later on I would learn my official time was four seconds faster.
POST RACE After the race I chugged a couple cups of water. Since it was cold outside I didn't feel the need to hydrate at all during the race. I just wanted to move past the water stations and get the race done. Not smart to do in the summer, but you can totally get away with it during a winter race. I was pretty thirsty at the end though, so it felt good to chug some fluid. After that I went over and got the free food, a mini grilled cheese sandwich and some vegetable chili. Both were super delicious. I didn't see the free beer tent and with the weather starting to sprinkle, I didn't really care. I couldn't spot Vincent (he ended up getting 1:37!) so I just headed back to my car.
By the time I was driving away with runners coming in on the other side of the road it was POURING. And it would stay pouring. Anybody finishing over two hours got dumped on. Remember, it was in the low 40s, so this was pretty miserable for them. I'm glad I was at least fast enough to avoid the rain. At times driving home it was coming down so hard it was difficult to see. Once I got home I took a big, fat, hot bath and it was amazing. I might not be in the greatest shape right now, but I tried my best. Now to survive the rest of the winter season and wait for the springtime thaw!
Official time: 1:48:55, 8:18/mile. 327/1444 overall, 223 of 581 male, 36 of 79 M30-34.
