Well, sorry for not posting this sooner. Recovering and just had my 31st birthday recently. Here's a link which had my pictures from the race.
http://www2.brightroom.com/101064
Pretty much type in my last name and see some action shots.
Anyway, I plan doing this race since I've had done it before twice in the past to get ready for Columbus and it was on my training schedule. Went to the hotel next door to mine and got my packet. Mostly just chilled and relaxed with some food and watching some College Football the rest of the evening. Keep in mind the Big Ten sucked donkey balls for the weekend.
I got up and drove to Mill Creek Reservation Metro Park in Berea just a few minutes from my hotel to the start. This was a special place since OAC Championships for Cross Country were held there my senior year and I finally got first team ALL-OAC after being Honorable Mention for last 2 seasons. A highlight of my Collegiate Running Career. Anyway, I arrived at Mill Creek where it continued to rain for a bit but looking south it was clear, weird. But, I warmed up for 1 1/2 miles. Legs felt ok. Wanted to put some Tiger Balm on my right gluteal before stretching and racing. Saw a couple of my former Good River Teammates in Stephen Benesh (aka THOR as everyone called him) and Tim Budic and his wife Hannah. Nice to catch up.
After doing some strides, saying a prayer, and the national anthem we were all off. Oh man, I was really surprised by the start of all things. First 800 meters it felt like no one was with me. Not even Budic who was pacing his wife to a good time. I figured Thor and a few Cleveland Elite guys were behind me but I couldn't hear footsteps. The rain had stopped before the start and that was a good thing. First mile I hit in 5:13 as we went past Bagley Road and into a neighborhood development for a loop. The loop wasn't bad but the way the course had it was you turned left and circled around back onto the Barrett Road for a little bit where you were on the left side while everybody else was on the right as they turned into the neighborhood loop. I still felt great as I hit 2 mile in 10:36 (5:23 2nd mile) still feeling great as everyone was rooting me on.
I made my way to the sharp left turn at 2 1/2 to Rocky River Valley Parkway where the majority of the course was. This race was pretty much point to point you were on this road for 10 1/2 miles of the course along the parkway where you saw much of the river and other parks. Good thing about the course was that it had some trees which made it pretty shady. The 3rd mile had that gradual downhill and they timed me at mile 3 at 15:41. I thought there was no way I just ran a 5:05 3rd mile. I figure some mile marks are a little off or were close since I hit Mile 4 at 21:20 I knew I didn't slow down that much since I ran a 5:18 mile for my mile 5 split in 26:38 I hit mile 6 in 32:00. Since it was point to point with no turns I thought I had a huge lead and there was no one even close to me. Mile 7 was a little slow but accurate I hit 5:35 mile for it to be 37:35. Mile 8 I was at 43:10 for another 5:35 mile. But I think total time was about right.
A good thing was I took advantage of the water stops every 2 miles with a little bit of gatorade as good practice for the marathon in 6 weeks. The cops were able to block off traffic on the roads that we hit crossing. Mile 9 was at 48:45 for a 5:35 mile and I hit Mile 10 at 54:10. It sucked that there was no music to motivate me. In my head at that point at Mile 10 I just had either a worship song in my head or of course "Hang On Sloppy" thinking I can win my first half marathon in either 1:11:00 or 1:11:30 somewhere inbetween.
As I hit mile 11 in 59:31 feeling alright for running the whole thing by myself. However, I hear 59:37 a couple seconds later. I kind of was surprised and made the mistake of glancing behind my back to see who it is. It was James Sjostrom, who ran for Kent State, a former State High School Champ and running for Cleveland Elite Running. I kind of gave up a little and he passed me around 11.2 but he was looking strong so I tried to go with him thinking I could finish strong. I guessed he slowly chipped away at my lead and I didn't know since the half course is point to point. He was able to gain 12-13 seconds after he passed me at Mile 12 which I hit in 65:00 or 1:05:00 for a 5:29 mile. He was finishing strong after letting me lead almost the entire time and I just wanted to break 1:11 to finish strong.
Sjostrom finished in 1:10:28 and I was about 30 seconds behind. They officially had me at 1:11:00 flat exactly but I knew I broke 1:11. Still a really good time after leading almost 85 % of the race. Almost puked at the finish I think it was the energy shot and powerade blocks I took which I my stomach wasn't used to but GLU's instead. I cooled down a little with another Cleveland runner I knew Matthew Paulin and we helped his wife to the finish. 18 miles total for the day. Got on the buses back to Berea. People next to me were impressed since they knew I lead most of the way. After I got to my car, I went back to the hotel, cleaned up, check out, got a little food and headed back to C-Bus.
Overall, I was extremely happy with my performance. I know I could have won my first half marathon but I wasn't that disappointed as many of you would think. Leading 85% of that race by myself for a bit was became more of a mental test instead of a being physical. I knew I have the physical toughness. Though I would like to work a little more on the finish. Hopefully tomorrow at Pataskala for the Chevy Fast 5k I have a good opportunity to have fun but work on a little speed. Going to build back up for other hard 2 1/2 weeks until I back it off a little in the last few weeks. Feeling real positive I can bust a great race for Columbus, October 21st.
That's my race summary!!!!
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