Running with Eric

On saturday morning I ran the 0SPF trail half marathon for the second year in a row. I finished the race in 2:55:23 which is almost 15 minutes quicker than last year.

We had really good weather for the race, and I started off at what felt like a quick pace. While almost none of the course is flat, I was attacking the hills fairly well, and didn’t walk any of them until the two big ones right before the turn around.

I reached the half way point in 1:23:38, five minutes ahead of last year’s pace. The way back was harder as I was really feeling the hills, but overall my endurance is better than it was a year ago. The finish line snuck up on me, but I reached the end feeling good.

On Saturday morning I ran the 0SPF Trail Half Marathon on the Seneca and Crescent Trails. This was my first time running this race, and I finished the 14 miles in 3:09:57.

Before the event I was only familiar with the Crescent Trail portion of the course, but right off the start I quickly found out that the Seneca Trail was just as hilly. Despite the distance I (and most of the other runners) were treating the event in much the same way that you would approach and ultra. I carried my own water, and wasn’t afraid of walking the steeper hills right from the start.

For the first half of the race I felt pretty good. Almost none of the course was flat, but I was moving well and finished the first half in 1:29. Two of the largest hills on the course come right before the turn around which means you turn around and do them once again which was a bit draining. Additionally I fell on this section, which is really only surprising in that it only happened once.

On the way back I could feel myself tiring, but I managed to keep pace fairly well through mile 12. For the final two miles I was slowing down for even the slightest of uphills, but I made it back to the finish.