Upcoming Race

I can't believe that the race that I've waited all year for is fast approaching. I'm getting rather aprehensive. I'm starting to second guess myself. Did I run enough mileage, did I have enough long runs, or am I mentally prepared for this race? I've also been reading a lot of race reports, trying to get some intelligence as to how the race is conducted or what does the terrain consists of. In reading these reports, I'm shocked to learn that this race is considered one of the tougher 50 milers. It is estimated to be 54 miles and has strick cut-off times at the Aid Stations, with a 12 hour time limit overall. When I did the JFK 50 miler, it took me 10:20. That race had 26 miles of easy trail with 8 miles on asphalt. The MMTR is all on trail with some single trail thrown in for good measure. I guess that I'll just have to man-up and get myself ready mentally. Hopefully that can overcome the physical part of it. We'll see

Army Ten Miler

Today I ran the Army Ten Miler for the second time. The first time I ran it was in 2000. This time it was easier and my knees didn't hurt like last time. I also dropped nine minuets from my time. I ran it in 1:14.43, a pace of 7:28 per mile, and placed 1584 out of 15,645 finishers. I also ran in a team this time. I ran with a MAJ and 1LT with SJA and another MAJ.

I hadn't planned on running this race, but I was talked into it I'm really glad that I did now. It turned out to be alot of fun. I had planned to just take my time and finish feeling pretty good. I was just wanting to break 1:20. But as it usually turns out, my competative side took over.

At the first mile marker I noted a time of 8:04. Each suceeding mile after that wa around 7:45. I then realized that I might have a chance of breaking 1:15, espically after I hit the eight mile marker at 1:00.17. I then picked up the pace for the last two miles and really pushed it - for me anyway. My last two miles turned out to average 7:20. I ended up coming end 1st in my team and my team finished 7 out of 12 Male Reserve Teams. Not a bad showing for a team that never really trained together.