River Roots and Ruts - Podium Finish!

Great race this morning.

The drive out to Alva was breath-taking. It really reminds of me of the African Serengeti. Just miles and miles of open pasteurs with grazing animals and haze coming off the earth. This morning was COLD - about 50 degrees. It was a beautiful sunrise with no clouds in the sky. Super spiritual.

Everything about this race rocks! The shirts are bio-degradable. The medals are made from recycled glass. The volunteers are friendly. The course is super-challenging and changes every year. There are miles along the Calloosahatchee River. Single switchbacks. Big Berms. Flat final mile finish for a good kick. They announce your name, place and home town at the finish. Love it.

I would say more than 3/4 of the 300 racers fall in the race with dozens of injuries that draw blood. One guy bit it bad and split his head open. Most common injury is losing concentration and catching a root on a down-hill berm which sends you flying.

I twisted my ankle twice and tripped once but never went down. I tried to take it easy but the competitive juices took over. Opened with a moderate 7:17. Tried to keep it at or under 7:30 pace for as long as possible...Started leaking oil at about mile 4 but not due to my endurance...more due to the difficult course...Once again, because of the triathlon training, my cardio was strong.

At about Mile 8, I felt great but that is when the course became the most difficult. I mean, really difficult. There were 10-15 foot berms that you almost had to climp on all fours and walk down to prevent a fall. Then, switch-backs and situations where you had to duck under the banyon trees.

At Mile 11, I caught the 2nd place woman (she was a master) and told her to draft off me so we could try to catch the first place woman. In first place was 23 year old Amy Plotkin who was about 150 yards ahead. I went in to a 7:15 mile pace for the last two miles which was too fast for my Master's friend. At Mile 12, I separated and then PASSED the 3rd place runner in my age group...although I did not know that at the time. Felt really strong in the end.

So I came in 26th overall and 3rd in my age group for a Podium finish - 2nd year in a row. I beat 4th place by about 25 seconds which is awesome considering I out-kicked him. Awards were "Petrified Wood" which I pasted above.

A really great day...Two of my tri team members finished a half marathon for the first time so I was really proud of them. Then the Eagles took care of business in the Meadowlands and are going to the NFC Championship. Then I gave a talk to the Youth Ministry at my Church. Topic was Setting Goals and Reaching our Dreams...My theme was "Find your Passion"...

Life is really good today...Mind, Body and Spirit in balance. Very grateful. Now some smart training and rest/recovery this week before we push for a PR at the Naples Half this Sunday!