Came into this one not really knowing what to expect. Training has been picking up with the weather, which in Cedar usually means 6 days one week and 3 the next...but after a decent long run, i felt okay to run this one. After reading the horror stories/times from last year's course, I was understandably apprehensive and started far too timid, but I only found that out at mile 12. Yes, I know they changed the course, but with all the twists/turns/possible misdirection/etc, I had no idea how this one was going to turn out. Combined with snow overnight and a 31 degree start temp, this one was full of questions. At the start, it was obvious the competitive field dropped off significantly after the top 3 or 4 and I found myself trailing the lead pack through a warm-up first mile of 5:56. They picked it up after that, led by Brad Osguthorpe (sp?), who amazingly finished the race in 1:10. Must've run his tangents better than anyone else! I settled into pace and figured I would feel ok if I stuck with 6:20 miles through the rest of the race. Big mistake. It was nice to run with someone for the first couple miles, but after mile 4, i realized I needed to pick it up if I were to feel good about this one afterwards. Miles 5-12: 5:58, 6:01, 6:04, 6:00, 6:10 (started to feel a blister caused by all the sharp turns), 6:03, 5:59, 6:01 Sadly(?), the wall I had been anticipating never came, and I was punished for my apprehension. The last mile.1 was at 5:25 pace, and I regretted sitting back for so long. As for the course, it was beautiful at every turn! There were the famed tulips, archways, sculptures, and of course the waterfalls and the rest of the gardens. I saw plenty of deer, geese and quail galore. The temperature turned out ok when the sun came out and it stopped snowing, too! All in all, it was a start to the summer (ha!) racing season, and something to learn from and improve on as I build mileage and speed heading into bigger races.
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