quarter marathon race.
cloudy = good
already mid 60s = not good
Prep went pretty well, on the track I could do this at 7:50 pace
but hot and hilly probably means 8 flat or a little more.
This is part of a festival in a local town.
The race management has changed, but still ok.
No anthem, no princesses starting the race,
no police car escort on the highway, no water
at the starting line (we were bussed from the finish)
A brief talk about the course and we are off.
He didn't wait for everybody to get to the start line,
just counted down from 5 and said go, but I guess there was no problem.
First mile in 7:43, :35 ahead of last year, feeling fine, the ice I brought is gone.
Mile 2 in 7:59, :11 more seconds in the bank, heat is starting to build
Mile 3 in 7:57, :10 more in the bank, heat is becoming a problem.
Mile 4 in 8:30, :10 more in the bank, there was a big hill, but also a water station
Mile 5 in 8:27, :58 seconds in the bank, I walked part of a monster hill, but less than last year, and another water station
Mile 6 in 8:31, this is 25 seconds slower than last year, I'm running pretty good, more likely a mile marker was off by 100 meters.
Last .55 in 4:45, :12 seconds ahead of last year.
Final of 53:52, almost 2 minutes ahead of last year.
Knees held up better than last year,
but the heat got to me more.
Good race. 3rd in age group. 14th out of 50.
The field has shrunk since they added a 5k, the
hobby joggers have been entering the shorter race.
But some money at the top has brought in a few really
good runners, so the quality of the field is higher.
Ran into a long time running friend.
He ran about the same as last year.
he mentioned that last year he was suffering from pulmonary embolisms.
WTF? Those are usually mentioned as the cause of death.
He would have chest pain at night, and the kids on his x-country team were beating him.
He went to a doctor who said it was a pulled muscle.
Then at a race he was losing to the kid's mothers.
He got a second opinion, a cat scan showed about 20 embolisms and a patch of dead lung.
He was put on thinners, probably for the rest of his life, but is back to normal.
The probable cause was from deep vein thrombosis. Maybe from distance running (he does ultras),
maybe from sitting (he had driven to the west coast and back), or maybe altitude (rocky mountains).
Anyway, he dodged about 20 bullets.
He also mentioned that Mick Justin (who has 3 Badwater buckles) has turned 70 and once he is fully
retired is going to get back in shape and hit the races next year.
Oh, good. Another old fogey who is going to kick my ass.
