Day: September 4, 2012

Another 20K in the legs.

Long-time followers of this blog (hi, both of you) know that the New Haven Road Race is my absolute favorite race of the year. It’s the perfect combination of:

Distance – 20K isn’t a half-marathon, so there’s not a lot of folks skittish about running their first “long” race. 20K’s also long enough to be tough, but not so long as to require extensive taper or training. Go run for an hour or so every weekend, long runs of between 10 or 15, and you’re good to race the 20K

Venue – Starts and ends on the shady and grassy New Haven town green. Church steps to sit on at the start, grass to recover in at the end. There’s a Red Hook Beer truck (30 kegs this year), Chabaso bread, and a decent band at the end.

Weather – Labor Day in New England is spectacular. Some years it’s a little warm at the finish, but most years it’s 60’s at the start and mid-70’s at the finish. Nice day for a run

Course – 20K, pretty flat. They changed the course this year, taking out the 2 miles of no shade and fish stink along the waterfront, and the trip past the refinery at the end of the water front. I kind of missed the stretch they took out, but can’t say that the change wasn’t for the better. Most of the folks I talked to really liked the re-route.

The race is also one of my favorites, ’cause I know I’ll run into Dianna (hit up her Livestrong Page, ’cause cancer still sucks, and I’ve got two survivors who were helped) and Jon. Seriously, I can’t say enough about how great it is to run into the folks who supported me while I was making running a big part of my life.

The race itself? OK, I suppose. I’m in better cardiovascular shape than I’ve been in a while, still overweight, and trying to break myself by playing soccer at work. I’ve also been trying just to run within myself – not too hard, not too soft.

Which was the race I ran. Started off conservatively. With the exception of the last mile, all of the splits were between 8’31” and 9’12”. Had enough for a kick on Mile 12 down to 8’19”. Finished with a 1h52′. Not my fastest, but I’ll take it for where I was this summer.

End of the race was over to Frank Pepe’s for pizza,

and to Columbus park for picnic.

And, a little rest in the shade.

Workers of the world, thanks for the day off.