On Saturday, I was able to run in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in downtown Detroit. It was a perfect day for a race. The sun was shining and there was a slight wind to keep cool in.
I spent the night before in Ferndale which was quite near Detroit. My friend Adam drove us there because he was able to park where he works in the city. We walked from his parking garage to Comerica Park. There were A LOT of people downtown, and it was fun to mozy through the crowds like a small ant walking amongst a whole host of other ants.
We made our way to the starting line and before we knew it, the race began. Like a school of fish escaping the net, 50,000 runners and walkers shot out of the small opening that was Woodward Avenue. I felt pretty good, and my breathing was constant as we got about a half mile into the race. There were tons of people in front of me and many more behind me, and I felt like I could feel them all breathing and working in the same way that I was. Before long, I got near the one mile marker. I hit my stopwatch and saw that I ran it 6:24. “Not bad,” I told myself, “but I think you can do better.” I tried to push myself a little more as we rounded off on a side street and onto John R for a moment. The wind was “mostly” at my back by the time I curled back over on another side street and headed down Woodward the same way I came. I saw the two-mile-marker ahead, and there was a man calling out splits as I ran past. I hit my stopwatch and checked mine. It was 6:21. “Not bad,” I told myself, “but you might be able to do better.” However, my legs were starting to feel like gelatin and I was starting to fatigue. My heartrate was a few bpm over my normal race rate, so I slowed down a little bit and started taking longer, deeper breaths. After a while, it subsided and I soon found that I could run proper again. By this time, I was running along the north side of comerica park, and I knew that the finish line was on the other side. I started kicking it in a bit, and passed a few people. There was a great downhill on the course for a minute. So, I tried to push myself to lengthen my stride a bit. At last I made the final turn for home. I saw the finish line up ahead. I looked straight ahead and then ran with all the speed I could muster at that point and finished strong.
By my watch, my final time was 19:51. I would say that wasn’t too bad…not too bad at all!
