Having taken off the previous 3 months, I wasn't sure how this race would go. My goal was to finish under 40 minutes, but I felt that even that time was a long shot.

I didn't start at the front of the race today. I started maybe 5 or 6 rows back. If I had been training leading up to this race, I'd be in the front line.

At the start, I started my Garmin and just proceeded to run semi hard. Right off the bat, I almost got tripped up twice by the same girl. I caught myself and then just stared/glared. Then I sped up a bit to get clear of the her and the other runners.

For the first three miles, I felt really good. I concentrated on landing softly and keeping my knee straight. I wanted to make sure I was doing everything I could to prevent ITB irritation.

At the start of the 4th mile, I could tell my run fitness was just not there. I could feel myself slow down. I wasn't mad at myself, though. I had put up a good fight through the first half of the race.

The wind really picked up and beat me down at this point. A few runners were running single file, taking turns running to the front to block the wind. I jumped in this group and joined the rotation. It helped some, but not much.

At mid 5 mile point, a bearded guy that reminded me of Grizzly Adams caught up to me. His footsteps were loud and he was breathing down my neck. He stayed behind me and then predictably made his move at the 6 mile mark. I sighed, looked at him, and told him that "You're going to make me earn this (OA) spot the hard way." We raced hard to the finish, but I felt a burst of energy and left him at least 5 steps behind.

Once I crossed the line, I started to look for the clock...Damn it! I forgot to turn off Garmin! I did and it read 40:02. That means I came in sub 40! I was very happy about that...

The Overall winner ran a 33:xx. Wow.

Nothing.

I took off all of OCT-DEC due to ITB issues. This is probably as good a run as I could have expected.

Walked around, got a water and then picked up my shirt. I was surprised to see it was a long sleeve technical shirt.


Lack of training due to IT band issues.

Next year, I will run this (barring injuries) in the low 37:xx range.


Good race and nice long sleeve technical T-Shirt.