Race starts at 8a, so I got up at 6a to start to get ready. Ate a PowerBar and a Gu around 6:15a. Got ready, headed out the door to run to the start at 7:15a.

Ran from my house to the start line. About 3.7 miles. I arrived at the start at 7:40a, found some water and took in another Gu.

My goal time for this race was to come in somewhere around 37:00 or lower. The gun shot and everyone started running. I had a Preferred 1 number, so I was able to get right up front with only a small group seperating me from the elites. The first 1/2 mi is a little congested, but the people who start out fast usually fade back by that time and it opens up quite a bit. I started running and eased into the pace that I would like to hold. The first 2 miles have a slight incline so it tricks you a little. I went from pack to pack running off people heels then eventually passing them. After mi 2 the course takes a turn, goes downhill, the slightly up, then down again. After that its pretty flat. By mile 4 it was only me and a few other guys that were running the same pace and we hung together for most of the rest of the race. Around mile 5.5 I started to give my last kick. I gave what I could and saw that I was going to break my goal by quite a bit. Nevertheless, I lit 'em up and finished strong, coming in at 36:36.

Nothing.

Crossed the line and got some water. Talked with Brian for a bit before heading over the food. Grabbed 2 bananas and a granola bar. Downed those. Jogged around for about 5 min and passed the massage tent. Nobody was really in there, so I got a massage. Went back to the finish to find my mom, Amy and her mom.

Legs were a little worked from previous day(s)/week of training. This race wasn't an A race anyways, so I didnt bother to rest up before it.

As always, the Bellin Run is a really nice event. Very organized and very well put together. There was 12,908 people registered for the run and walk events. They had some big names running it too - like Bill Rodgers.

For me this was a good event. I improved my time by 2:30 with about the same effort as the year before. Nice to see improvements like this from a good year of training.

Race Reports Modeled with Permission from
Endurancecoach's Triathlon Post Race Analysis Sheet.