The MS Runner

Actually was a very good run.  I’m talking about the OBX Half Marathon last Sunday.  If I had to do it again, I would have stayed another day.  The weather was great that morning.  It was 50 degrees and the high was projected to only be 55 during the run.  There were a total of 2,771 half marathoners getting ready to take on this challenge, and my son Jason and I were ready.  One good thing that I liked about the run was that they sent you off in waves, 3 minutes apart.  We were in the second wave, the 8 to 10 minute milers.  So there was no cattle call and a crush of runners at the start.  When our time came, I think everybody thought it was the 100 yard dash!  Oh I forgot to mention, that I forgot to wear my Garmin.  So there I was, running like crazy with the rest of the pack.  I soon realized that this was stupid, and I backed down.  Jason however, kept up the brutal pace.  (I think there was some hottie he was chasing)  After a boring first 3 miles, we ducked down a side street into a beautiful neighborhood.  The ocean was to the right of us, and a golf course to the left of us.  Some magnificent homes also.  But then we go back out onto the main road for the final 6 miles.  At mile 9, we cross the bridge going into Raonoke.  The bridge they say, rises 35 feet, but I think it was more like 135!  When you come up to it, you’re thinking that there’s no way I’m going to run all the way across this.  Most of us however did, although there were a few that didn’t.At mile 11 we are headed into downtown Manteo and the spectators are more in numbers and definitley louder.  I admire those people that stand out there for hours to cheer you on and ring their cow bells.  Just after mile 12 you can see the finish line.  I pick up my pace a bit and I’m surprised at how much energy I have.  Was it because it’s finally over, or was I not running as hard as I could have?  As I cross the line I hook up with Jason and find out that he ran 1 hour, 43 minutes!  His best half marathon time before that was 1 hour 54 minutes.  I think he got better.  I finished in 1 hour, 47 minutes and 11 seconds.  I was very happy with that considering 3 weeks before I ran the Denver Half in 1 hour 59 minutes.  So I shave off 12 minutes in 3 weeks.  Like I said, I’m happy.  I finished 209th out of the 2,771 total runners and in my age group, I finished 20th out of 117.  I can’t believe how fast some of these dudes my age are.  My splits were at 6.9 miles, 7:51 per mile and the final 6.2, 8:34 per mile.  Wow!  What a drop.  I did go out way too fast which caused me to slow it way down the second half.  But I’ll take it.

Now to get ready for the marathon in Arizona in January.   Should be a good one.

Jason and I before the run

I think last weekend it was 75 degrees and sunny.  Today it’s 40 degrees and raining.  I’m not sure what the rest of the week will bring, but it’s crazy.  I’m sure it’s global warming and them damn Republicans.  In fact, I think I heard that it was Governor Palin who was shooting holes in the ozone with her shotgun.

I signed up today to do the Denver Marathon which is next weekend.  Since I’m still “recovering” from my knee injury, I’m doing the half marathon and doing this as a training run, and not a race.  The most I’ve run since June is 10 miles, so this should be a good test for my knee.  I hope that the weather is better this year.  Last year it was 34 degrees and raining.  I was miserable.

Then in 4 weeks is the Outer Banks Marathon, of which I’m doing the half with I think my 2 boys, Jason and Michael.  I hear that Michael may bow out because he hasn’t been training at all.  I think that he didn’t want to get beat by the old man.

Not to be missed is my daughter Kari’s wedding in 6 weeks in Sanibel Island, Florida.  That should be fun except for the part where my ex and her family will be there.  I plan on hiding out until it comes time to give Kari away.  Then when that’s done, I run into the gulf where I have a speed boat that is straight out of Miami Vice waiting for me.  I speed away as fast as I can and as far away as I can.  After that my plan is kind of fuzzy.  I’ll either end up in Mexico or Cuba.

I won’t be doing the Detroit Marathon after all. My son Jason is going to do the OBX Marathon and I will be doing it also. I think that he may only do the half, but he may try and do the full. This is in The Outer Banks of North Carolina along the coast. We are going to try and talk my other son Michael into running also, but I’m sure he will only be doing the half. He seems to have a lot going on lately, including just recently getting engaged to his girlfriend Heather. I’m assuming that she’s not pregnant because the wedding is not until next spring. But then again she could be I guess. She can have the kid in like February or March, and still get married in May or June and no one would know. Mmmm. Anyways, the marathon is November 9th which actually gives me a couple more weeks of training. Yahoo.

This past week was my first full week of training and I actually felt good. I’m running in the morning (5:00 a.m. for god’s sake!) which is good because it’s much cooler than at 6:00 after work. This whole week it’s supposed to be in the 90’s, so the early morning runs are looking good to me.

My gym closed down already, after being open for only about 6 months. Can you say embezzlement? Now I’m not sure what to do about a gym. I don’t use it that much but it’s nice to have when I do use it.

Has anybody done the OBX Marathon? I’d like to hear from you if you have and get your opinion.

The Colfax Marathon is almost here. May 18th to be exact, and I am tapering down. But I feel like I should be getting in more miles since I missed quite a few runs with my quad problem. But wisdom tells me that I should not be getting in more miles, and that I need to taper more than I need to get more miles in. So, it doesn’t appear that I will break any records, so I’ll just take what I can get. The leg feels almost 100% better, so in that respect, I am happy. I ran hard for the first time last night, and I could tell that I have lost some speed. I guess the Kenyans and the Ethiopians are safe for another year.

After this marathon, I think I will take it easy and just run to keep in shape. Possibly run a couple of half marathons, and some 10K’s, but not do another marathon this year. At my age, 43 53, I need some rest. I keep getting injured, so it’s either my mechanics, or I’m over training. Either way, I’m going to take it easy on myself.

Coming up after the Colfax, is The Bolder Boulder, which is an awesome 10K. I think that they said that it was the largest 10K race in the U.S. Last year they had 50,000 runners, and my son Jason came in from North Carolina to run it. Of course I beat him, and in fact I beat him so bad that he’s not coming this year. Too bad.

The Charlotte Thunder Road Marathon is next weekend finally. It seems like Jason, Michael, and I have been talking about this forever. Now that it’s here, I’m not ready! Well, I’m sorta ready. I kind of slacked this week because Jason and Michael flew into town to pick up my car, so I missed out on 2 days of running. Not their fault of course, I just got lazy. I ran an easy 12 miles today, and I’ll run a couple more times before I fly to North Carolina. It should be interesting to run at sea level for once. I’m hoping that training at altitude will really help me to have a good race time. I’m shooting for 1 hour and 49 minutes for my leg of the relay (13.1 miles).