First race of 2009, and first race in two in a half months. I knew it would not be a peak performance. First, it was a little more difficult than I expected. Second, the hills really slowed me down. I was fast on flat ground, and on the decents without an issue, but get to a climb, and I seemed to have more difficulty than others. I was watching J22 fly up the hills with ease and wondering if I was just too heavy right now, or what.. I am a few pounds over where I want to be. Working on it though. Anyway, I ended with a respectable 1:34:29. I truly don't think I had another mile in me under those conditions.

Steep hill work. Even stair climbs to prepare for this one.

Cooled down a bit, chatted with some folks, and watched others come in. Ate a great bowl of home made soup.. how awesome was that? .. also, watched the awards. Top male did that course 30 minutes faster than I did.. WOW.


Weight.. about 8 pounds too much.. aka 1 gallon of milk.
Lack of hill work. Decidedly, this was the biggest issue.
Lack of racing. I am not in race shape.. but used this to help that along.


This is a keeper on the schedule. I imagine it will become more and more difficult to get into in the coming years as it's now out of the closet so to speak. There was a feel to this race, that I had not felt since my Michigan running days. A true running community. It was awesome.