My foot was hurting pretty good but I dedcided to just shut it out. I had a lot of friends running this race so I wanted to give it a go. I started out ok in mile 1. I thought I was going a little slow but it ended up being my 3rd fastest mile. There was a lot of energy in the air. It was a beautiful day so I ignored the pain in my foot and just concentrated on the nice run.

Average HR for mile 1 - 154

I slowed down for mile 2. The big hill of the run is at the beginning of mile 2. There were a lot of people walking up the hill which is hardly past mile 1, it really made me wonder how people thought they were going to run. Anyway, I really had to weave in and out of traffic going up the hill. The rest of mile 2 has a couple of small rollers and a bunch of downhill. This was a problem for me. While going up hill and flat was just painful, going downhill was excruciating. I almost packed it in on the big downhill of mile 2. You know what they say ... "No pain, no pain". I sucked it up and kept going. It kind of sucked not to be able to take the 'free' speed of the downhill and actually lose time because I had to slow down.

Avg HR for mile 2 - 168

Mile 3 was tough. We had to turn into the wind to get to the turnaround point. The downhill had taken a lot out of me. For me it was more about survival than running. Traffic was REALLY heavy and others were really slowing down and I had a lot of people to wind through. I love the end of mile 3 as it is right at the turnaround point and now you get to go with the wind.

Avg HR for mile 3 - 166


The beginning of mile 4 is where the water stop is located. I grabbed a cup just so I could get a mouthful of water. It was enough to stay hydrated. Well, it's enough to get me through a 5 mile race. Mile 4 is usually pretty uneventful. There is a little uphill at the end of mile 4. I missed the mile marker and couldn't hit my lap timer. But I know about where it was. The nice thing about mile 4 is that people started to spread out more and I had a lot more room to pass people.

Mile 5 is a bugger. The first half mile is this very small gradual uphill. It's deceptively difficult. Well, it's uphill slightly and after running as hard as you can for the first 4 miles, it's really hard. It didn't help that my foot hurt like mad at this point. But I know I only have about 3-4 more minutes on the course so I just internalize. It's agony, but it's bearable. As you make one of the last turns there is a short little 50 yard uphill. I sprint up that and push as hard as I can the last 1/4 mile to the finish.

Last year 42:18
This year 36:08

Avg HR for miles 4&5 - 171

Not too shabby for someone on a likely stress fracture.

Not run.

Ate an orange, drank a bottle of water and a glass of beer.


I had an injured foot. I went to urgent care after the race and they think it is a stress fracture. There was too much swelling and the X-Rays were inconclusive. I need to go back in on Monday for more tests. Damn.


Free beer and music at Camp Randall at the end make this a great run. There are always a ton of people. Over 15,000 participants and 9,000 runners.