Notes
Chris dropped out the morning of the race--there was an all-night disruption in his apt complex--instead of being on the train going to the race, he was talking to the cops about his out-of-control neighbors (cops apparently had a history with this guy). Never intended to run fast (right now this is VERY fast for me). I intended to run with Chris--think Buddy movie where being with your friend is more important than the time will ever be. So, they said the first half of this course was down hill (I've run this before)--but the light came on. When I run with Tommy Appleby, I always tell him to take advantage of the geography (i.e., use the downhill momentum to your advantage) -- and I did. At mile marker 5 (43:43) -- I was running a 8:45 pace. At mile marker 10 (1:29:51) -- I was running a 9:00 pace. at the finish, I had a 9:09 pace. This is not a PR for me; however, I am super proud of this! I just came off of five months of rehab and three days before the race I turned 54. Interesting factoid, of the men in my age category -- I was even in the top 50%.... I think about how Ben always said, he was never worried about his pace (of course we couldn't be crawling)...I guess as I get older, I may embrace this mantra. I think right now I have to shift from running to weight lifting--as I've run a lot for the past five or so year and it's done no favors to my upper torso. So running is great...the fresh air, the running buddies, the accomplishment of each and every run.