Blog Master G

I did it: Not only did I run in my first competitive race since college, I ran my first-ever distance race, and I didn’t wimp out after the first 2.2 miles. I ran 4.4 miles in 38 minutes and 33 seconds today, and I feel great! I was 71st of 130 people who ran the full 4.4 miles and had a per-mile pace of 8:46. My first mile clocked in at 7:35 and 2.2 miles was 18:35 (I even Jotted these times to myself midway through the race). Not too shabby for a guy who’s never run distance before, who’d never run more than 3 miles at once before last Saturday, and who went to a party last night, eh?

I’m pretty damn proud of myself and it’s a great feeling of accomplishment, especially since I was tempted to stop after the first 2.2-mile “lap” around the small town of Hagaman, NY. Put on by the Fulmont Roadrunners’ Club, the Winter Wimp was the club’s 22nd annual foot race.

Alex, Cati, and I had a ton of fun today — the energy of the crowd, the personal challenge of running and finishing a race, the fleece balaclavas (given to the first 200 to register; I was #198), and the food at the end of the race.

Big congrats to Alex for finishing 33rd overall and 6th in our age group with a time of 32 minutes and change. Way to go, my friend! Very impressive. Congrats also go to Cati for running the full 2.2 miles when she had set out to walk the race.

View more Winter Wimp 2008 photosHalf marathon here I come!