"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming -- WOW-- What a Ride!"

Saturday, August 25, 2012

North Country Run Half Marathon

Today I ran the North Country Run Half Marathon.  It a trail event held on the Big M trails in Manistee National Forest near Wellston, MI.  I don't have a mile-by-mile race report, but I do have some observations from the day:

  • It was hot.
  • Aid stations were awesome.  The volunteers really make then rock.
  • There are a lot of hills on this half marathon course.  Whew!
  • Did I mention it was hot today?
  • I love trail running and racing.
My goal for the day was 2:30, which would have been about a 15 minute improvement over last year.  Well, I was on track though about mile 9 to hit my goal.  Then the wheels fell off.  I started really feeling the heat.  It's been cool here for the last 4 weeks or so, so I didn't get in much in the way of heat acclimation prior to the race.  I started cramping all over and just really not feeling good.  By the amount of people I was passing, I wasn't the only one struggling in the heat.  The last couple of miles it looked like everyone was having a hard time.  Lots of walking going on.  I ended up finishing at 2:45.  Same as last year, but considering it was 15-20 degrees warmer than last year I'm fine with it.  I know I did my best out there today.  A new PR just wasn't going to happen today.