Notes
My foot has been feeling pretty good so I decided to get back to my race schedule and run the Eager Beaver in Kevin's hometown of Wilton. The race didn't start until 8 so we had a little more time to get ready than usual. I felt sluggish warming up but have learned to disregard this for the race. When the race started I got out to the front with Nutmeg and Rick Pahl, a good road runner from around the area. The two of them got a little ahead of me so I tucked in between them unsure of what my fitness would be in a mile or so. I never really felt that comfortable in this position though. It seemed like I was trying to overstride to keep up and I was struggling to relax. So after the mile marker I went beside the two of them. We ran 3 wide for about another half mile and then I'm not sure if it was Nutmeg or I that started to push a little more but either way Rick started to fall a stride or so behind us. As we started to hit the faster pace my legs felt much better. It seemed like the rythym clicked more. By the 2 mile mark I could tell I was more controlling the pace and just tried to keep it rolling with Nutmeg right on my shoulder. My goal was to help both of us get away from Rick, who was still hanging in 5-10 meters behind us. Nutmeg stayed right on my shoulder for about the next half mile and then I started to notice a little separation. We were both pretty clear of Rick at this point so I tried to just maintain the pace and get to the finish. The lack of running miles seemed to have my legs feeling surprisingly fresh. I picked it up a little after the last corner to the finish and turned around to see Nutmeg not far behind me, and Rick shortly after that with another PR for himself at this race. He says he likes this race because he always knows he is going to get a fast time with Nutmeg and I running. Overall, I'm pretty excited about this race. I somehow ran faster than the last two years and felt pretty strong. My foot is a little sore. Mostly in my toe and arch though. Nothing in the back of my foot. Hopefully I can keep running and try to get through a few races this fall. This race gave me enough confidence to give HyVee a tri next week. Hopefully my shoulder can handle it.