Park Forrest Scenic 5 miler

Park Forrest Scenic 5 miler

09-01-08

I would like to start out by thanks to Mitch and Co. for all the accomadations Sunday night. Nice dinner at Olive Garden to get everyone full, and good company to get pumped up for the race. I did have my usual pre race dinner, Chicken Marsala. Got some good sleep, Rossi claims he snores but I was out and hoping I didn't.


Race morning up at 0400 hours to have coffee,bannana and protein bar and of course pre race mother nature visit (s). Arrived at the race site and people were just starting to show. Got ready and had a good warm up with Rossi and Josh. I know I need to watch more of the comedy channel to get into the conversation. Timing was right on all morning and I felt pretty good even though training right now has been primarliy IRONMAN long distance. I had a plan to go out and do a progressive run.

After high 5's the gun went off and I settled in and thought I was right on track for the progressive run until I passed the the 1 mile mark 5:50. That was way to fast, no progressive run today. I held onto the lead pack and the pack started to lengthen out. Passing mile 2 at 11: something, Garmin showed me doing a 6: 09 I was able to pick it up a bit passed several people. I settled in behind three others and the wind was at our face so I just stayed behind and drafted. We passed the 3 mile mark with a 6:10 not bad and I was feeling good. Mile 4 never saw the marker or clock and I was still with the three other guys all looked close to my age group, but we had slowed a little. I fell back slightly as we went up the last hill but was able to catch back up and crossed the finish line with a 30:42

This put me in 33rd over all and I pulled 5th in my age group. I'm glad I took 5th it was a better prize than 1st.

In conclusion everyone on the team did well. and I would suggest that next year everyone put this race on the schedule.

Once again big thanks to Mitch, Adidas, Often Running and CO. It was a great experience. I have some hard training days ahead and as I do these long swims, rides, and runs I will be pulling from all of the energy and support the team has. I will try and squeeze in the next few events into my schedule: Decatur classic, ISU and Canal connection, but for now I will be concentrating on the FLORIDA IRONMAN.

Train hard, train smart

David