8 Tuff Miles Update!

Finish line photo- I had nothing left in the tank.

Getting off the ferry heading to the start.

Cruz Bay before the start

Race director Peter Alter: the man that puts it all together!
Thanks Peter!


TJ and me at the finish!


WOW!!!
What a day!
I got a pretty good nights sleep on Friday before the race. Went to bed around 10 pm. Apache, our cat thought I should get up at 4am instead of 5am.... Oh well. So up a little after 4, stretch, make a lite smoothie, finish up the playlist for ipod and out the door a little before 6am to catch the 6:30am ferry over to St. John. Ferry was packed but I got an isle seat so I could stretch the legs a little. I picked up my number at the table. I was #70 for finishing overall in that place last year. Top 100 get to start in the front coral and get out with a clean start. That is nice. Weather was great. 75 degrees, partly cloudy. I felt pretty good. Started out a little fast but that first mile hill puts you in your place fast. I pretty much just ran my race and didn't worry about other people. There was an incredible 8 year old boy that had beat me in the training runs that I kept my eye on and did finally get by him about 2 miles in. We had a pretty strong rain shower come about halfway through the race. It was actually pretty nice but made the road a little slippery. My goal was to get to the 5.3 mile mark with a pace of 9 to 9:30 min per mile which i did. I was about a 9:06. From there it's 3 miles down hill. I pushed it a little hard from the top of Bordeaux on down into Coral Bay. My Garmin watch had me at a 5:29 pace for a little. That was a little fast but I was just trying to relax and flow with the hills. I was trying to run that downhill section around a 7 min per mile pace. I think it probably averaged out to about that. By the time I got to a half mile before the finish I was spent. Nothing left. And that last half mile flattens out and actually slopes back uphill just slightly. And the wind had picked up against us with more approaching rain. Anyways, I dug deep and finished strong. Last year I ran a 1:15:20 which was a 9:00 min/mile pace. I just wanted to beat that.....

1:08:32 finish time- 8:11 min per mile pace.
35 overall out of 800 runners
30 among males
5 in age group of 40-44

Post race party was great. Band was playing and we all had a great time. I ran into TJ from Illinois who inspired me to start this blog. Peter the race director had put a link to his blog on the front page of the race web site. So headed to Skinny Legs for lunch and beers around noon with a lot of the other racers. They always video tape the race and show it on the big screen tvs at the bar. So everyone gets there few seconds of fame.

After that it was back to Cruz Bay. A stop at Woody's for a beer and some "Shark Bites" and then over to watch the awards ceremony.

All in all a great day. But halfway up those hills I was wondering: "What the heck am I doing?" I know I can do better so it's speed work on the hills and the track this next year. I also have the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon in July that I think I am going to be running in. At least that race is Flat!

Yesterday (Sunday) I was pretty sore and didn't do too much. A few projects around the house. Still pretty sore today but I'm heading out the door to take the villa guests out on Happy Hour for a day sail......

That's it for now......