Race Report: Cleveland Half Marathon

I arrived at the start line just in time and realized I was right at the front. Gun went off and I started runing too fast. I did my first mile in 6:40, second mile was about 6:45. I knew I needed to pull back a bit, but it just felt good to be out there running hard. This was my first race since the Portage Lakes Duathlon last September, so I was happy to get back in the groove. At first, I was happy to be at the front for the start, but then I began to realize that it messed with my psych. A whole bunch of much faster half and full marathoners started behind me, so I felt like everyone was just blowing past me, while I wasn't passing too many.

So here are the stats: I finished with a chip time of 1:35:53 a 7:18 pace, which was good enough for 183rd place of 3,873 overall, and 23 of 303 in my age division of 30-34 dudes, 1:18:59 won my age division. Not sure why, but my watch time was 1:36:52 a 7:23 pace. I'll take the official time though!!

Other notes...The Iggy band was pumping me up and a few random drum players were really cool. I wish there was more of that out there. The crowds were good, but the chilled morning probably kept a few inside. Lily and Amanda made it out for me and that was awesome to hear them cheering in the final stretch.

All in all, I'm satisfied with my first half.

Post update: New video posted on YouTube. I zip by in seconds 45 and 46, blue shirt, blue headband. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8cCPbluUw4

Cleveland, meet Barry.

Get Outside!

Here's why. For the last few months I have mainly been trudging along on treadmill in the basement of my office, with only my co-workers and CNN news to keep me company. Now don't get me wrong, I like to talk to my coworkers and (occasionally) I watch the news, but not while I'm working out. Seriously, 50% of why I'm working out is to give the brain a break from the office and reality in general. And I can only take so much doom and gloom from CNN news about how my 401k sucks, if I'm not already laid off - it's coming, I should suspect everyone who looks middle-eastern to be a terrorist, taxes are too high, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yes, we only have one channel on the TV, we can't change it. Ugh! Or, I've spent my rides on the trainer on the basement at home, nuf said.

More importantly, today was a great reason to get outside. As I ran through the downtown malls, across the bridge, passed The Browns Stadium, The Great Lakes Science Center, The Rock Hall, The USS Cod, The Goodtime II, and Burke Lakefront Arpt, I was soaking it in. But for the WEATHER, Cleveland is awesome, we should enjoy it. But those are just objects that pale in comparison to this guy: Barry Noss. You see, as I was running back from my turnaround at Burke Lakefront, I was passed by an obvious touring cyclist. Obvious because all the gear he was carrying and it looked like he hadn't shaved in days. He stopped to take a picture, I ran past. He passed me again near the Rock Hall. He stopped to check his map, I stopped to find out his deal.

Barry is heading to Chicago...from Philly! He is raising money for the American Brain Tumor Association. He recently got laid off and decided to bike to Chicago, which I think is awesome and bold. Awesome because riding 850 miles is just plain cool and adventurous. Bold, because it's only April and it is cold and windy along Lake Erie! Check out Barry's site.

Runnin' Man...

So, I have been completely neglecting the bike. Mostly because I'm focusing on training for the Cleveland Half-Marathon...or maybe the marathon. I don't know, I haven't made my mind up yet. I also have been totally fascinated learning about ultramarathons and especially Dean Karnazes. I read both Ultramarathon Man and 50/50 Dean's books. They are inspiring and eye opening. In 50/50 he runs 50 marathons, in 50 days, in all 50 states, in the fall 2006. It's crazy how far he can go. For eight straight years he ran a 199 mile, 12 person relay race, on his own.

On that note, I feel like I could run forever, but I haven't run far enough yet to test my limits. I did put in a good week last week, total 33.8 miles running. I'm gradually increasing my mileage by about 10%/week, we'll see where I top out. I did a practice 5k on Saturday (20:48) and a 13 miler on Sunday. Sunday's long run included high winds, rain, sleet, and a little snow. I really got blasted rounding Shaker Lakes near Coventry, that was not fun, but I would not head home. I just kept thinking there's a dude out there who can run 50 consecutive marathons - I can do this. Did it in 2 hrs flat. Wasn't fun, but it was...ya know what I mean?