As I am now in peak training season for this fall's running events, this past weekend contained back-to-back hardcore runs!
Saturday, I ran a 21 mile "free-for-all" run in Topeka, Kansas sponsored by the Great Plains Running Company. The run started in Dover, Kansas and winded on highways and country roads back to Topeka. It was a warm, muggy morning but it was a great day to run. I met some very nice people along the way and finished happy and feeling good in about 3 hours and 45 minutes.
Sunday morning was the Wichita 1/2 Marathon, which is my second year in a row to run it so I think that makes it a tradition! (The best part of the tradition is running through the finish line and then several blocks to my car and then drying off, changing clothes and going to church!) So on sore legs, I still beat last years Wichita 1/2 Marathon time by three minutes and finished in 1:45:28 (my person record for that distance!). It is a great course with lots of participants along the Arkansas ("Are-Kansas") River. I averaged slightly slower than 8 minutes/mile and actually got faster instead of slower as the race went on. I probably passed 75 people in the last three miles - which is a really good feeling. I finished 160th out of 844. I feel so good (more mentally than physically but still) that I am headed out for a run today (Monday) in Haviland where I am spending the day on campus at Barclay College visiting with students and participating in their annual Missional Leadership Conference (formerly known as Missions Emphasis Week).
Wichita 1/2 Marathon results: http://www.wichitamarathon.org/hf08al.txt
