When Tim arrived at the race site his hamstring and glute were a bit sore and tight, like they had been all summer. So Tim stretched them and figured he would be good to go for his 'reach for the stars' goal. Now Tim's coach 'Dave' told him him he should take the first miles easy, just a bit below goal pace and then work up to goal pace and then let it fly at the end. This advice had worked perfect last year. So what did Tim do at the start? Well of course he took off at the top edge of his aggressive goal. His early miles had lots of 8:40s and 8:50s in them. HE felt pretty good. Sure his HR was reading high, but he was sure that was just the Garmin reading high. (don't be so sure bright eyes) Then at mile 7 a funny thing happend. Tim's left hip flexor started to hurt. Tim decided it was just in his head. After all he was sure that a left hip flexor could in no way be related to a right glute issue. He was sure that it would not mess up his gait in any way that would cause an inbalance on the other side. (Editor's note: apparently this guy ain't no scientist either)Tim thought 'should I re-adjust my goals now?' He decided that would not be necessary and plowed ahead. For a while this seemed to work. He slowed down a bit but was close to his target. He got to 1/2 way in 1:58. He was still passing people who were 'saving' their energy until later in the race. Things slowed down a little but he was still on target for a PR. This continued through 18, 19, 20. At 21, Tim started slowing down to a 9:30 pace. He figured that this was a momentary lapse before the big final push. Then at mile 22 he noticed a person carrying a sign saying "4:00" pass him. Then it hit him: the wall. His tank of energy emptied fast. A friend of his, we will call her'Lunatick',appeared from the crowd and gave him some 'spirited' motivation. This seemed to frighten other participants, but gave him a momentary lift. Soon after though he was deep down in the pain cave and resumed the shuffle of shame. His mile paces started with 11:3x now. Soon the 4:05 group passed him, then in the last mile the 4:10 group jogged on by. In the final mile, in a fog of misery, he realized he was being taught a harsh lesson. He had been warned by his coach and others not to fall into this trap. He didn't listen. His own brain and body told him to take a more conservative approach, but he didn't listen. So Tim eventually crossed the finish line, wrote out his race report quickly, crumpled it up and got on the bus to go home. Dejected.

Well, I would have been waaay smarter that Tim. I would have listened to my coach. I would have taken the first miles conservatively and pushed it at the end. I would have stretched out my hip flexors. I would drank more water. Just remember though, I am a lot smarter than this Tim guy.

Well when Tim left to go feel sorry for himself, I decided to enjoy the rest of a beautiful afternoon. Scoobysdad came in very shortly after me and we hung out and compared notes. Then I hung out with Rosshole, Tall tridad, Lunatick,Scott and Colleen and we waited for the Jennipede to cross the line. That really put my little meltdown in prospective. Then I walked back to the car with a big smile on my face. Grateful I can do this, grateful for great friends and grateful for a beautiful fall day.


stubborn glute/hamstring issue/injury and my inability to adjust my plan and goals accordingly.


A top notch event. Only complaint is poor post race food.