Go Team!

I did not accomplish my 7:11 goal in Lake Placid. Training was a bit rough in the weeks preceding this Half. I think my body was just beat up and needed to rest, so I listened! Yup, it takes discipline to not run... well, I was so exhausted that I actually welcomed the break. I finished in 1:38:47 which is a 7:32 pace. I started out too fast and died toward the end. I knew better, but seemingly ignored it. Still, my time wouldn't have improved that much. But what a great race. Nice hills, except the last one, which is just a vindictive bitch. I'll be back next year.

But how about that Team In Training!?! What a fantastic season this has been. I met a great number of awesome people last January/February- some athletic, some nervous, some jelly donuts. But by June, ALL were seasoned endurance athletes.

[caption id="attachment_151" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="No jelly donuts here"][/caption]

June 6th was the San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon/Half Marathon, our first of two summer events. I flew out with Katie. We arranged to travel together because it's more fun, but also because she get's a bit freaked on a plane- especially with turbulence. There were times where I thought she may crush her armrests. Pete happened to be on our flight as well so after picking up my Fox car rental, we went looking for food. The gate keeper at Fox gave an excellent recommendation- Lucha Libre, and as the decor suggests, it's all about Mexican wrestling. Great food. Great spot.

[caption id="attachment_155" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Katie, Peter and I at Lucha Libre"][/caption]

The next morning we did our 20 minute easy run as a group along the waterfront. It's a great pre-game event. If we were not psyched enough, this definitely did it. Plus, I saw Ryan Hall run by! Event day started early. I was out and about by 5:30 am. I went straight to Jack In The Box for a sourdough breakfast sandwich. I had to wait until 6 am for them to open. That put me behind, so I ran from there to the race course while eating breakfast. Wasn't the first time I've had to do that. I would definitely not recommend it. On the way, and while getting lost, I found Coach Michael and Coach Steve. They too were trying to find a way onto the Half Marathon course which at that point (mile 4) was on a highway. We crossed a park and slid under a fence, but made it just fine. I saw lots of Brooklyn go by including Josie, which I was happy with.
[caption id="attachment_156" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Mile 4ish: Josie fuels."][/caption]
After seeing Josie and assuming all of the BK had passed, I ran back to my hotel, jumped in my rental car, and set out for my assigned mile of the Full course. 18-19. I saw most of Brooklyn pass and lots of Manhattan. I'm sad that I missed Laura though. She flew by me while I was exchanging texts with Alison who was at mile 16. She was prompting me who to look out for. =( The irony. It was a beautiful stretch to be at, right on the water in a park. I'm not even sure how many times I ran up and down it, but by the end I was exhausted and dehydrated. I estimate it to be about 19 miles total that day. Maybe more? Not sure. Katie came and found me toward the end and we took off in my rental car to the finish area. Everyone from NYC TNT who started, finished. It was a good day. And the night rocked on! Victory dinner, drinks at a dive bar, and dancing till 2am.

That was San Diego. Then came Lake Placid.

Katie and I caught a ride with Syed and his friend Paul who were running the Half for fun. Syed has buddy who owns a great house in Jay, NY. He let us crash there, fed us, and was a very gracious host. We started the afternoon by watching the US and UK play to a 1:1 draw in World Cup group play. We ended the evening over some barbecue.

Event day was great. We arrived an hour early, but that seemed unnecessary. It's a small race- about 2,500 total participants for the Half and Full combined. Everyone gathered on the speed skate ice track (no ice of course). I happened to go on Facebook and saw that my my brother just posted a pic of the same. Yeah, he was here! He was in town supporting his own running group from Albany.

After finishing my race, I went back onto the course and ran with as many NYC runners as I saw, over and over up that last hill. Everyone did absolutely fantastic. Eric, who was supposed to run San Diego, was the only BK participant to compete in the Lake Placid Full. It was especially cool to see him overcome that disappointment of the week prior and cross the finish line that morning.

[caption id="attachment_159" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Syed, me, Katie, and Paul"][/caption]

And now I'm deep into Fall Season... New entry to come!