The Scorcher Half Marathon

Sunday, June 5, 2016.  Stillwater, OK. The Scorcher Half Marathon.  Nice and cool start at 6:30 AM.  The sun had come up and it was light.  But still lots of shade from trees and houses.  It stayed pretty cool for the first hour.  After that the sun was more direct and and we all started warming up.  As I didn't wear a GPS watch and didn't print out splits I could only guess at my pace.  Had my watch recording the time.  So I knew I was well under an 8 minute per mile pace.  The runners ahead of me got further ahead and no one passed me over the last few miles, so I was running by myself for the last twenty minutes.  I picked up the pace a bit over the last mile and made up some ground on the runners ahead of me.  However I was unable to catch up with them at the finish.  My time was 1:43:27.  Would have loved to break 1:40.  Think I needed some longer runs prior to the race.  My longest was two weeks before, a 12 mile run.  Finished fourth in my age group.  50 -55 men is the most competitive group.  If I could have dropped down two groups younger I would placed in the top 3.  And drop to the next younger group below I would have won.  All in all though a nice race.  Nice finisher medal. (see below)

Now to choose another race before I leave for Fall recruitment travel at the end of August.  Then in November, Route 66 in Tulsa.

Happy Trails!

The Scorcher

The Scorcher

It has been years since I last posted.  Ok, well at least one year.  Did not do well in Green Bay.  And have not run any marathons since.  It's quite challenging to to be on the road for four weeks in the Spring and 8 or 9 weeks in the Fall.  Really hard to find training time when you arrive in a city at night and have to be out on the road early in the morning.  Sleep is always the priority.  Running is second or third priority.  My work comes before running.  So I try to squeeze in a 30 minute or 40 minute run every few days.  Maybe get an hour run in once a week.

So my next run is just a few days away.  The Scorcher Half Marathon.  Sunday at 6:30 AM in Stillwater.  Weather should be really good for the first week of June.  Low in the morning around 61 degrees.  Hoping to come around 1:40.  Would be my fastest half in a few years.  Half marathons are easier to predict that full marathons.

My hamstrings are pretty tight.  Had a massage today and found out how tight they are.  So hoping to work on stretching over the next weeks and months.

So till next time...Happy Trails!