Another Good but Challenging Weekend

On Saturday morning, I wavered on doing the Lock 29 run, with Cleveland Mara only a week away. It had been raining, and I knew it would be a mucky, tough run. I decided to suck it up and go anyway. Turned out to be a mucky, tough run. I wore my Nike Humaras, which are the best mud shoes I have every owned, and that helped, especially in the really wet, swampy, shoe-sucking mud. The footing on the hill climbs was undependable, so of course there was much slipping and sliding. 13.2 miles of that over a couple of hours really works you legs. Click here for a satellite image of our route.

On Sunday, I ran the Mom's Day 5k in Independence. Eileen from our club runs the race which she established in memory of her parents. There were about ten of us from SERC there, and we all did well, winning or placing in our age groups. I got there in time to do a few warm-up miles, then some strides before the race.

In keeping with a very consistent adherence to the three F's approach to racing ("First Fast, then Fade"), I went out too fast, doing both of the first two miles at 6:00 minute pace. I finished at a shade over 19:00 (official times are not posted yet). It was good enough for first in my age group, so I didn't blow the race entirely.


E-speed and me at the start. We both went out too fast, and we both were disappointed that we didn't finish stronger. Look how focused I am. I am thinking, "Stay under control, finish strong." My legs (not shown in the picture) are thinking, "Let's run like we're being chased by hungry cheetah for the first couple of miles. It'll be fun."