Message posted by: Steven R.

BAYSHORE HALF MARATHON RR 09/29/2010

I took the family to beautiful Traverse City Michigan for a fun filled weekend. I signed up for the race in December and figured it would be a great indicator of my training progress. My training is all centered on preparing for IM Wisconsin on 9/12/10. Racing morning I had to be at the HS at 5:30a to take a bus ¾ up the Mission Peninsula. It has been unseasonably warm in Northern Michigan (90+) for the past 2 weeks. So I was a little surprised of how cold it was once I got to the start point. Well I should have known better; you don’t go 13.1 mi into Lake Michigan and expect it to be warm. So everyone huddled around like a bunch of hens trying to stay warm until the 7:30a race start. The race started on schedule and the fun began. The first mile was a little interesting as 2000 runners found their position. I forgot to turn on my timer until 4 minutes into the race; so I was never really sure what my time was. I just know I felt great. I past a runner callin
g out a 9min pace to a friend, so I figured I was running about 8:45 pace which is great for me. By mile 7 I new I was going to have a great run baring any mishaps. It got hotter and hotter the closer you got to the finish line. I saw several runners struggle with the temps, but fortunately my fluid and calorie intake was right on. Besides almost tripping on a crack in the concrete at mile 12, I kept pace and finished with a PR of 1:56 (8:51 min pace). My best 10 mi pace was 8:30 so I am very happy with where I’m at on the road to Madison. Next test is June 12 the Michigan Mountain Mayhem at Boyne Mtn of 200 km of cycling with 10,000 ft of climbing. 1200 ft less than Jim K will be experiencing in three weeks !!!

The marathon started at 7:00 so I figured I would see the elite runners at mile 4 and 11. I saw Hillary Cheruiyot of Minneapolis/Kenya the eventual winner. What a treat watching someone running sub 6min pace effortlessly. The runner up was minute and half behind but you could tell he was playing with him.

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