You're simply the best (of the rest)

I had my race this morning. First, do you know how hard it is to wake up before 7:00 when you haven't done it in six weeks? Quite. But I was pumped and bolted out of bed. It also helped that I keep the alarm clock on the other side of the room, necessitating that I actually get up to turn it off.

When the race started, a group of about 20 runners absolutely bolted from the line. These people turned out to be of two groups: 1.) The elite runners who were not my competition, and 2.) The poor souls who didn't realize how much of an elevation gain awaited them, poor things. I have to say, though, that the runners (at least those toward the front at the start) did a good job of lining up based on projected finishing time. I've complained on here before about that. There's no shame in finishing toward the back of the back, especially in a race like this. Just don't start right up front so everyone has to pass you.

So, yes, a bunch of folks sprinted from start. I tried to stick to my mantra of "Run your race, Bri," but it is a competition after all. I went out a little faster than I would have otherwise; however, it turned out to be a good thing. I hit the summit faster than I ever had. Just prior to that point, I found myself separated from the other racers, with the fast group way ahead and the rest of the pack behind me. This almost always happens to me. Due to the course's winding nature, I had glimpses of a runner or two ahead of and behind me at times; mostly, however, it was me racing against myself. Good thing I usually run alone.

During the mostly downhill, last half of the race, I did quickly make up a ton of ground on a runner. "Dead meat!" I thought. But no, it was just some random guy out for his Saturday morning jog. Damn it.

After the final climb, I sprinted the final 10 minutes downhill. There was no way for me to figure out where I was place-wise, both overall and in my age group. So, I just ran hard. And it felt so good! I crossed the finish line strong, relatively free of bugs, and comfortably ahead of the next finisher.

But where did I place? My time was something like 56:45, a personal best for sure, but I knew that it probably wasn't good enough for top-three in the 30-39 age group based on last year's times. As it turned out, the third-place guy finished in 53-something, which just wasn't going to happen for me. (And it won't ever happen unless I lose about 30 pounds. Seriously. You should have seen the twigs that finished ahead of me. And it's not like I have weight to spare.)

If the color-coded tags were any indication, I came in fourth in the 30-39 age group. Not bad, methinks. According to the race website, there were 31 entrants in this group alone. Overall, I finished somewhere around 20th out of around 200. Also not bad. Okay, I did very well. In fact, I did so well, it took two naps this afternoon to recover.

There are a couple half marathons on my tentative agenda in October. And I have a mud run through an obstacle course scheduled in September. That should be something. I'll try to get pictures of that one.

Update: The results have been posted: 56:37, 21/136 overall, 5/26 age group.