Near Death Experience!!

So I finally get to participate in the infamous Crim 10 mile race in Flint, MI. I felt ok, before the race. I knew that I had prepared well for it. I took everyday off that week except for Tuesday and the race was Saturday. Tied up with work. Get there the night before, and the hotel is literally at the starting line. All is well. So the starting line is like a madhouse! But it was nothing like the Indy Mini!! They tried to have pace group starts, but you know how that goes... you had walkers in the first half mile. But overall the start was good. It was a very humid day. I had planned to go out slow and conquer the "Bradley Hills" which is 1 mile of straight uphill, I believe 800 ft escalation, that starts at mile 5-6. All was going as planned, but I had to literally take sips at every water station. Then the sun came out!!! It got sooooo hot soooo fast!! By the time I got to the Bradley Hills, it was almost 90 degrees. I was soooo drenched with sweat. I was taking 2 waters at the water stops... which they did a GREAT job of having like ever 1.5 miles. Residents along the course sprayed water hoses for us, there were sprinklers to run through, but it was still hot and no shade! Why do I alway get this type of race?? The Bradley Hills were long, but was not that bad, but i was definitely glad it was over.

I didnt realize how much of my energy was sapped during the race. I just could not keep pace... and after about mile 7, it was pretty much a jog to the finish. Gu-water-gatorade... nothing helped. But no, i was not going to walk!! People were passing out on the side of the road. My delima was 1) Push with all i got, to get this race over sooner and risk looking like them -or- 2) Keep at this leisure pace and just have a somewhat comfortable last 2 miles. So I chose the latter.

Coming in for the home stretch is the "bricks"... this is where it is supposed to be the last 200 meters, but I think its more like 400. I saved it for this last stretch and brought it in, passing at least 5 people during that spurt. The finish could not have come any sooner. I was soooo dizzy and light headed. I downed 40oz of water in like 2 minutes flat!! Poured ice water over my head, and I can still feel how good that felt to this day!! My final time was a dismal 1:23:45 chip time. My goal was 1:15:00 so I was wayyyyy off. But given the conditions, there was no way to achieve it. I now have a new respect for the runners at Chicago Marathon in 2007. It was 90 degrees there also. So I run on...

Oh yeah, I officially signed up for the Detroit Marathon. I am dreading it, because I am not "marathon" training. But if I can just hang on, that's all I need to do to finish. I'm shooting for 3:45:00, but really I want a 3:30:00. Its in 7 weeks... 26.2 miles!!!