I am VERY pleased with this. Especially since I didn't train for the most part for this race. Too much slacking off after Tacoma City Half Marathon in May.

Finish time:

2:08:47


(And uhm, 4976th place overall? WTF?)

This ends up being my second best Half time ever - and only three minutes slower than Tacoma's blistering pace (for me that is.)

You know that guy who rides the bus and just smells BAD? Yeah, he was me today.

But I'm all showered and soaped and smelling a whole lot better. But I do have some uhm, chafing issues that I haven't experienced before - not fun at all. Maybe hiking won't happen tomorrow . . .

I need pizza! I take that back - I want deep fried cheese!

Tomorrow - the inaugural running of the Seattle Rock and Roll Half Marathon.

I'll be there - will definitely be an interesting experience. Twenty-five thousand runners - never ran in a race this big before.

To show some sort of Seattle pride - I'm going to run in my Seattle Sounders FC jersey.

Bed time.

As stated in a previous entry, my goal was to finish today's race somewhere between 27 and 28 minutes. And if that time doesn't happen, I would love to still post my best 5k time yet.

Like the last three years I've run this race, there are a TON of dogs. If I remember correctly, the organizers said there were about 1800 dogs at last year's running. That number might seem large on its own, but when you see that many dogs all together, it's even more enormous. Dogs of all shapes, sizes, ages, breeds and colors. Everywhere you look, there are dogs.

Today's running will be my fourth, and only second with a dog. Last year, Olive and I ran it together - and that was her second run ever. After today's race, she and I will have logged just a bit over 275 miles together.

The beginning of this run is always crowded. There's always those who either think that they are faster than they are, or those walkers who don't understand that they are lined up with runners. I can't complain too much since it is for a good cause.

I tried not to pay attention to the time, just listened to my body. While running, I was able to tell that I hadn't pushed myself hard in a while - I actually think that last month's half marathon was a bit easier on me than on today's run - but of course, that would be hard to honestly compare.

Looking at my GPS watch, I posted the following lap times:

Mile 1: 9:12.74
Mile 2: 9:04.32
Mile 3: 8:22.32
Mile 0.1: 0:46.05

Total time for the 2009 Furry 5k: 27:25.54 (average pace of 8:50 per mile.)

While I didn't hit my time goal, I did knock of 39 seconds from my best time, and a new PR is always a good thing. Plus, this was Olive and I's best time together (my previous PR I was running solo.)

Looking at the times - I finished in 100th place (out of 224) for the male runners. That's kind of cool. For all timed runners, I finished in 188th place out of 549.

Upcoming races:

June 13 - Sound to Narrows 12k
June 27 - Seattle Rock N Roll Half Marathon
July 25 - Torchlight 8k
August 1 - Tacoma Narrows Half Marathon

Busy summer!

And another race!



This will be my third half marathon of the year.

Races so far in 2009:

5/3 - Tacoma City Half Marathon
6/7 - Furry 5k
6/9 - Sound To Narrows 12k
6/27 - Seattle Rock And Roll Half Marathon
8/1 - Tacoma Narrows Half Marathon

It's official - I have registered for my first set of races for 2009 - the inaugural Seattle Rock and Roll Half Marathon and the Tacoma City Half Marathon (I ran the full last year as my first marathon.)

Still need to talk to Dina about Portland . . .