Holly Freaking Cow! I didn’t mean to run that fast… It just sort of happened.

Workout: 20 Mile Long Run
7 miles + Borgess Run For The Health Of It (Half)

Today I had to run 20 miles so I signed up for the Borgess Run For The Health Of It Half Marathon. My running partner was going to drive over from Lansing but she developed some knee thing and had to bail. So I was on my own. Arg….

I woke up early and decided to run my additional 7 miles before the race. I was a little nervous because I was out late last night drinking beer and thought it make for a long race.

Anyway it was a beautiful morning, It took me about 30 minutes to drive to the race which gave me time to kind of wake up and process the day. Once I got to the site the sun was just coming up which was awesome. Plus they had already blocked off the streets for the race so I had the whole course to myself. I felt pretty good and for whatever reason was clipping along way too fast. I think my first two miles were 8’s which I knew could be a problem. But I just couldn’t seem to slow myself down.

So anyway it took me about an hour to knock out the first seven. I timed it pretty well, only having to stand around for 10 minutes or so waiting for the half to start. I was determined to run the half much slower as I knew I would be tired but it wasn’t meant to be. Within the first mile or so of the race there was a big down hill which I think set the tempo for the rest of the day. Plus I saw a bunch of Hastings folks out there which was kind of fun.

I wasn’t really watching my time all that closely. I had decided it was going to take as long as it took and I was just going to enjoy the day, but I knew I was clipping along pretty fast.

Overall I thought the route was great. We weaved through downtown Kalamazoo which is where most of the people were. I kind of felt bad for all the cops because they had traffic stacked up and a lot of busy intersections. I tried to thank all of them as I passed because I’m sure they were taking a lot of abuse.

Anyway the whole event was fun. I felt really strong through the entire race and even sprinted the last few hundred yards. Some snot nosed 20 something was trying to beat me and I wasn’t going to have that.

I feel so much stronger than in Miami as evidence by the new PR I set today after having run a 7 mile warm-up. I may have a new pre-race program that involves Bells Beer, bar smoke and limiting sleep to 4 hours( OK…. Maybe I just got lucky!

I’m now more optimistic about San Diego and am getting psyched. Indy next weekend, the Riverbank Run the weekend after that, and San Diego in about a month. I think it will be fun if I live through it!

I’ve broken out my times for both the 7 mile warm-up and the Half below.

And Derek if you’re reading this you little weasel I saw your 1:28/6:43 pace. That’s just sick and wrong! Good job, I am in awe!

First 7 miles: 7.01 miles/57:44/Avg 8:15
Race: 13.1 miles/1:48:41/Avg 8:18

Total Run: 20.11 miles/2:46:25/Avg 8:17