This is the second year I have run this race, and I really like it. The race is extremely family oriented. They have all sorts of stands for business, a couple of bounce houses, and shows after the race. I really like the kid karate show. Those kids are good. The race itself is good to. 100% flat course with a casual setting. There are not very many speedsters that show up, everybody is just there to have fun. There is also plenty of room to run. Nobody is bumping people over or yelling. The first aid station wasn't set up, so the first water stop was 3 miles in. I don't believe I heard a single person complain.
Today was the first time I can say I ran a half marathon where the hardest part of the race was the first 5K. I went out to go warm up before the race. I made it about 1/8 a mile before I realized there was no hope there, as I wouldn't be able to do much of anything anyway. That was it for my warm up. The first mile of the race was horrible. I was tight and breathing heavy at a slow pace. Nothing hurt, it was just not working right. Jodi was also running the race and she also ran the all night run Friday night/ Saturday morning. I am pretty sure I would have turned around after the first mile had I not know she was in front of me. She said she would be running over a 2:00 marathon. I figured if I could just keep 9:00 I would see her. That carrot worked for me through the second mile. Except, I didn't quite get the 9:00, but close enough 9:04. Mile 3 was a little better but it was still a bit hard to actually run and not walk. By the end of mile 3 I was feeling great. I had a 5 hour energy in my pack waiting for me at mile 5. I figured I could hold off until mile 7. I chilled with a couple of guys that where hoping for under 2:00. When I hit mile 5 I was starting to kinda feel it again. I decided to go ahead with the 5 hour energy as planned at the 5. It took about a mile to hit. Mile 7 I was back in the game and feeling great. I was keeping 8:30ish after this and it was feeling easy. The race was easy again. I wasn't going all out because I didn't want to hurt anything and because of the first 3 miles I was nowhere near doing anything cool. I decided to become a motivator. Every person I saw slowing down or walking, I'd get them back going and then take off until I found the next victim. This was a lot of fun. My favorite was the girl I saw in the last mile. She was doing well, but I could see that she could run faster. I told her to come on and she sped up. She stayed on me for the next 1/2. One part of me was ready to take off, but that wasn't what I was out there for. With a half mile to go I decided to part a bit. I created a bigger gap and she followed closely but not completely. The final sprint was my full attempt at running in the race. I did it in a 7:07 pace.
I feel that I am finally getting faster again. I averaged 8:36/mile on the race and it was an easy race (out take the first two miles). I think a lot of this is due to the push-ups, core and pull-ups I have added to my every day routine. It sure isn't my lack of running. I think I would have been able to run a lot faster had I had muscles ready for work. Now to a good week of training.
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