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April 21, 2007

RUNNING ANOTHER HALF MARATHON

Later this morning I will be running in my sixth half-marathon. The Salt Lake City Marathon and Half Marathon is said to attract top runners from around the world who all enjoy crisp, cool running weather in April, in a setting surrounded with snow-capped peaks contrasting with spring blossoms, all along a flat and slightly downhill 26.2 / 13.3 mile course.

I of course am not one of the world's top runners. In fact, I would not describe what I do, during a race like this, as "running." Finishing is my only goal, as is not killing myself. My previous half-marathon results are:

1st Half Marathon: 4:01:18
2nd Half Marathon: 3:36:47
3rd Half Marathon: 3:15:00
4th Half Marathon: 2:57:29
5th Half Marathon: 2:54:09

I have always improved my time, but I think that trend will end today. I convinced a couple of co-workers to join me in today's race, and I think all of us will be happy with just finishing.

My predication: 3:50:57.

Wish me luck! I will pop back on this afternoon with an update.

===XXX===UPDATE===XXX===

Greg Cox, Jake Sabey, and I finished the Salt Lake City Half Marathon in less time than I had predicted. Our unofficial times were:

Greg: 3:17:00
Jake: 3:28:47
Mikal: 3:28:48

It looks like the official race results wont be posted to the Salt Lake City Marathon website until early next week, so I'll post one final update on Monday or Tuesday.

In the meantime, I have to say that because of the company I kept--Greg and Jake--this was one of the most pleasurable half marathons I have ever run. The three of us kept ourselves occupied with a killer game of Geography, lots of laughs, and interesting conversations with other runners, volunteers, and supporters.

For now, and I'm sure I speak for Greg and Jake on this one; it's time for some serious one-on-one couch time ("one-on-one" = suffering human and their couch).

Posted by Mikal at April 21, 2007 4:37 AM | TrackBack