With the mild winter weather, I decided to run the New Year's Resolution 8k in Flint this afternoon. I'm happy to be able to run outside at all, much less do a race this late in the year (guess you can't get much later). This race was actually warmer than the last 3 I've done, so that was an extra bonus.
I made the trek up to Flint for this race and was looking forward to getting my first race sweatshirt. Unfortunately, it had a hood. I don't like hooded sweatshirts - they are too hot to wear on a regular basis and I can't wear them to work, even on casual day. Oh well... I'll add it to my hooded sweatshirt collection - they tend to stay quite pristine.
After checking in and getting my bib, I went down to the locker room and unfortunately encountered "Naked Gym Guy". Apparently, every gym, anywhere must have at least one Naked Gym Guy on call at all times (I was thinking about the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" audio book we listened to which mentioned a similar phenomenon at the pool locker room). Qualifications for this guy include advanced age, must look like Lou Grant, must be in horrible shape despite going to the gym every single day and must be nude for an extended amount of time for no good reason. This is just uncalled for. Sorry for this but it needed to be said...
Anyhow, I warmed up and the race started. I felt quite good at first and had a decent half mile time. The next half mile felt even faster, but I was a bit disappointed that is wasn't at all. I slowed a bit more during the middle of the race, as I got a pain in my side (seems to happen a lot when I run "fast"). I worked through it and continued through town towards the finish. It was both nice and annoying that we ran into the 5k walkers the last 1.5 miles. They kinda got in the way, but it was nice that I got to pass people, even if they weren't in my race.
I actually did pass some runners near the end of my race and could have passed a few more, but it was quite crowded on the home stretch. I decided it wasn't worth bowling some people over to gain a spot or two (which doesn't really count much when the race is chip timed).
I finished in 42:53, which was on the slower end of my "goal range", but it reflects where I am at right now. I peaked in October and have been working to not regress too much since then. Overall, I enjoyed today's race and am looking forward to 2012.
Next post should be a 2011 recap celebration. Whoopie!
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