UltraBrit: June 2009

Monday, June 29, 2009

Norwalk Summer Series 5 miler and Fairfield Half - June 27th and 28th, 2009

I'm a little behind on my race reports here. This was another 2 race weekend with the Norwalk Summer Series 5 miler on the Saturday and the Fairfield half on Sunday. I always dread the Fairfield half because I don't deal well with long distances in hot and humid conditions. I decided that I would race the 5 miler and then take it easy in Fairfield. I ended up with a course PR for the 5 miler, which might be partly because it wasn't as hot as in prior years. As usual I started out at a decent pace and got to see Roy pass me by early on. Some time around the 2 mile mark Anton passed me and I made it my goal to try to stick with him. I was close to letting him get out of reach a few times, but late in the race I was able to pick up my pace and pass him. Since I'm writing this a few weeks later I can tell you that he's beaten me in the races since then.

Mile 1: 8:04
Mile 2: 7:35
Mile 3: 8:13
Mile 4: 8:19
Mile 5: 7:52
Total: 39:51
Avg. Pace: 8:01

Anton and Kate

Kate, Sean and Ikuko

Christine

John

Maria

Sean

Jeanette

Don

Amy and Sherry

Amy, Sherry and Brian

Alicia

Petra

Roy, Frank, Rob, Emmy, John, Jeanette and I

John

Steve and Lindsey

Alicia

Joe

John

Lindsey

Don (and Kaz)

Brian

Maria

Frank

Amy

Christine

Joe and Roy

John

The Fairfield half marathon was also a great race for me. I got a course PR due to the much cooler conditions. I started out towards the back of the pack and had no expectations. Cindy and Jan were with me for the first mile and we ran it slowly and gradually moved up as we went along. Shortly after that they went on ahead and I decided to take it easy. I found the first few miles to be tough with the sun, but after about 3 miles we hit some nice shady parts with a light cool breeze and got some nice downhills. I focused on powering up most of the uphills and recovering on the downs. I had fun catching up to and passing many of my friends on the course. I got to see Karl, LuAnne, Kaz, Sean, Kellie (and her sister), barefoot Rick, Don and Christine. The last 3 miles were a struggle since we had lost the shade and there were still many little hills to deal with. I thought that I might have overdone it with the hills earlier in the race, but was able to hang in there. I beat my prior best Fairfield half time by about 11 minutes.

I had a great time hanging out with my brother, Jan, Cindy, Jeanette and others before and after the race. I was also thrilled to meet Eliot and Ilana for the first time. I got to see many people that I know, but was also disappointed that I didn't get to see everyone that I wanted to.

Mile 1: 9:25

Mile 2: 8:53

Mile 3: 9:18

Mile 4: 8:46

Mile 5: 9:46

Mile 6: 9:14

Mile 7: 9:14

Mile 8: 8:20

Mile 9: 8:25

Mile 10: 8:30

Mile 11: 8:58

Mile 12: 8:42