Number 24 Grand Rapids

Number 24 was the first time I have ever ran watch less in a race, and the number of watch less training runs are less than 5 in my entire running (.... hmmm what word best describes my running ... career? lifestyle? phase??  I'll have to ponder that for a while) 

The thought came to me when I was trying to decide my goal for this run. After weighing the pros and cons and re weighing the pros and cons  I made the final decision the morning of the race to leave the watch in my bag check.

Main reason that started my watch less run thinking was those times when I look down (every few steps) at my watch and see that my current mile pace starts with an 8, my weak side of my mind tells my strong side that we can not sustain that pace no wonder we are so tired we must slow down, and I do. Even though I was doing fine at that pace, and just starting to enter the uncomfortable phase I slow down.  So without the ability to see what pace I am running could I indeed sustain a faster pace?

Number 24 would be turn out to be a 1st for us.

We signed up for a bus trip with out local running club to the Grand Rapids Marathon. We had already both ran the full 4 years ago and remembered it to be a great run. B is coming off of his stress fracture so he ran 2 legs in the marathon. His team did a great job bringing in a 3:57 final marathon time. I of course decided on the half.


We loaded the bus with 14 other runners at 8:00 Saturday morning. Let me sum the 6 hour bus ride in one word Heaven! Shop talk in a contained environment of 16 runners for 6 hours on the way to a race is a great way to spend travel time :) oh yeah and a bathroom on the bus ... us runners have to hydrate prior to a race.

EXPO - Small -  all I purchased was 2 pair of fluffy cozy socks.

HOTEL - Country Inn & Suites clean, friendly staff &  straight shot to the start and finish

Pre race start - plenty of porta potties and you could go inside the YMCA and keep warm and use the flushables, which was a nice option to have. Luckily the weather was perfect running weather so we darted in to use the restroom checked our bags (with my Garmin) and stayed outside and waited

This was my first half since the Ultra and only recently have begun speed work again so I was not sure what I could put up.

This marathon has named their pace groups from the celerity that have ran that time. 
4:58:25 Al Gore’s: An Inconvenient Pace Team – a pace team that honors the inventor of pace teams and leaves a very small environmental footprint.
4:44:44 The Penguin Brigade – This pace team is for penguins everywhere and is officially endorsed by Runner’s World’s John "The Penguin" Bingham.
4:29:20 Team Oprah – Everyone wants to know if they can beat Oprah!
4:14:54 P. Diddy Pacers – So not all of our celebrities are great role models, but they are all marathon finishers, and their times conform nicely to a 15 minute (approx) spacing.
3:56:12 Will Ferrell’s Sub-4′s – Nine minute miles on the nose will break four hours with four minutes to spare, just like Will. Shake & Bake!
3:44:52 George W.’s Running Mates – While W’s time is impressive, imagine how much faster he could have run if he hadn’t stopped to look for weapons of mass destruction. Either way, here’s your chance to win the Presidential Race.
3:29:24 The Billy Baldwin Racers – We’re not really sure if he counts as a celebrity, but he’s Alec’s brother and we do respect his time.
3:1415926 Pi’s Pacers – geeky younger brother of Phidippides in ancient Greece, was more interested in mathematics than in running.
2:59:36 The Sub-3 Lancers – Pretend you are Alberto Contador and take on the seven time Tour de France champion! And yes, we do have enough really fast pacers to make this team happen

I decide to hang with P. Diddy's crew.  

Lucky for you without my watch I do not have split times so this recap just got a lot shorter
Cliff notes-

• Started too fast - felt like paces were all over the place entire race
• Turned on Ipod at mile 3.5 to try to pace myself to the playlist.
• P Diddy's crew passed me at the turn around 8.5, hung with them until mile 11
• Crossed the line in 2:09:10 

Sock Scale
On the CC sock scale I rate this half marathon  3 out of 5 .. sorry the socks are so big couldn't figure out how to make them smaller





Next up Number 25 -  Key Largo Half Marathon