Dirty 2nd Half

This is a quick review and I will probably be the only one that reads it since the post is about 3 months late.

I had not raced or trained since Boston and feeling the itch I hired my coach Andy Martin again for a 7 week period to get me in shape, at least good enough shape to finish the new Dirty 2nd Half (great first race by Super Dave from Footzone)in a decent time.

The training started out slow as I was way out of shape and fighting some chest congestion. I felt pretty bad on my early long runs and wondered if I was ever going to get back into running condition. Coach Andy told me that it would be hard to get it back and to be patient. He was right and after about 4 weeks I started to feel pretty good. I wasn't training for any blazing time since it was a 7 week crash course but it felt good to put the training shoes back on and get to work, the fun kind of work. :)

As the race came I didn't know what to expect. I was unsure of my condition and I had not previewed the course. This would be the first time in many years that I did not preview the course. A welcome experience since I did not have high aspirations.

Come race day, it was cold. I don't recall the exact temperature but I believe it was about 20 degrees or it at least felt that way. My thought was to start slow not knowing the course and only hearing that the first 6 miles climbs up then you come down. Most of that was right and it was a slow steady climb for about 6 miles. I just got into an easy groove trying to keep the women leader in my sights. Lost sight around 4 miles and didn't think it was worth tracking her down. Around mile 6 superstar Ultra Runner Kami Semmick passed me and at that point I knew I would be chicked by at least one female. I continued in my groove and once we made the lollipop and started heading back down I picked it up. I like the deep steep technical stuff and found myself passing people that had passed me on the uphill. As it flattened a little I continued in a groove and picking people off slowly. As we came up to mile 13 there was a nasty short steep hill to climb. A bit disheartening but nobody passed me and I knew the finish was close. As we came to the finish I heard some footsteps so I made sure I put in a little kick.

All in all a good 7 weeks of training and a killer 1/2 trail marathon and an even better post race celebration. Burritos and Beer!