Eugene Half Mary!

What a great race! Here's the blow by blow:

4:30 am wake-up! I'm a bit obsessive about being somewhere ontime... plus I wanted to eat, have time to drop the kids off at the pool, and also some warm-up/chill time. Of course... I was a little TOO early. I parked my car at Autzen stadium (finsh line) and took the shuttle provided to get over to the start (Hayward Field). I got a huge kick out of people watching before the start. Everyone reacts to competition differently... quiet, boisterous, jovial, subdued... it runs the gamut and its fun to watch. I just kind of sat there and listened to my IPod and stretched a bit and tried to stay still.

6:45 am - Time to get in line! Like many races you're supposed to line up at the start according to your estimated finsh time. I think that gets thrown out the door b/c everyone has grand expectations at the beginning of any race. I just kind of meandered up through the line and settled in wherever I felt comfortable. Took my headphones and hat off for the national anthem... of course I teared up... always do during that song... I'm a pansy like that... sentimental etc! The energy in the crowd was pretty relaxed and happy! Then BAM... off goes the gun!

7:00 am - So it begins! The first half mile was spent jokeying for position... weaving in and out and trying to find your rhythm can be a challenge in such large crowd of people. By mile 1 it had thinned out and people were settling in. There was a ton of support out on the course. Eugene is an interesting place... there were plenty of "hippies" out there beating some drums... matching your stride... nice! I missed the first mile marker by about a minute so from the get-go my splits were screwed up! Bummer. Remember... this was supposed to be a training run for me... my pace was about a minute faster than I wanted it to be... but at that point I was feeling really comfortable and decided to hang with it. Plus I was hooked up with some really smooth lookin runners and thought it'd be fun to stay with them for the duration. Just after mile 3 I got to see my wife and slap the kiddos a high 5! That was really cool! The only hill on the course happened just after mile 4... straight up 19th St... it was pretty funny b/c when we turned the corner you could hear people that didn't know the course start to comment! I held pace up the hill and dropped a bunch of people. Felt pretty strong and at every corner there were a ton of spectators... that really pushes you along. Turning off of 19th we headed through the University of Oregon campus... that place was PACKED with spectators... then over the Autzen foot-bridge and along the river trail! It was freakin gorgeous! Sunny and warming up. About mile 8 my legs were feeling a little sluggish... then I realized that I hadn't been paying any attention to taking in any fuel... despite wearing a fuel belt with some Hammer Gel in two flasks... (4oz gel + 2 oz H2O)... took in a couple of ounces and made sure I drank some water through the next aid station (walked that one to make sure most of the fluid got in my system rather than down my shirt). Relaxed a bit and took in the sites. At around mile 10 the half-marys turned off and the full-marys went straight... they basically added another 3/4 of a mile before we hooked back up with them. They were AMAZING! Some of those guys/gals were just hammering... pretty cool to watch. There was a bit of confusion for the half-marys b/c there was a 12 mile marker that didn't apply to us. There were a couple of people ahead of me that saw that and surged... I checked my watch and knew it was a mistake.... I passed those people at the real mile 12! Bah ha ha! NICE! Anyway... I just cruised and felt strong through the tape knowing that I could have gone harder and longer if I needed to!

FINISH! 1:35:14
7:17/mi pace
113th place overall
12th of 92 in AG
Avg HR: 155
Nutrition: 6 X Enduralites (electrolyte pill)
6 oz Hammer Gel/water
32 oz plain water (approx)

Overall a really great morning! The event itself was really well organized and its always fun to be a part of something so cool! Fairly happy with the results considering I didn't go out and put the hammer down... I know I could have run faster. The biggest thing for me was that I'm learning where I am and where I want to be in terms of fitnes... I'm GETTING THERE! Absolutely zero problems with my shins OR my right ankle (THANKS MARCI)! Can't wait to beat that time next year...

Came home, ate like a pig, showered, and went to the park with the kiddos!

Sundays are an endurance swim and run day.... SO... at 4:00 I headed to the poo.. with minimal nagging from my wife (thanks K!)! Here's the workout:

- 200 yd warm-up/drills
- 1,800 yd steady state swim
- 100 yd cool-down
- Total time: 29:09

I was on such a high after the swim! I just felt great and blessed and lucky and happy! Good stuff! I also ran into Scott at the pool... a fellow local triathlete that had contacted me via email! How serendipidous is THAT? Cool dude and I'm sure we'll be putting in some miles over the next few weeks!

That's it for now. Today is a rest day! Went to the chiro to get checked out and adjusted this morning... everything looks good!

Breathe...