Lake Minnetonka Half



Saturday's running of the Lake Minnetonka half marathon was wonderful...my effort was relaxed & social.  

As planned, I ran an 8:00 minute pace (1:45) for the 13.1 miles.  Slower paced than a typical half for me which is more like 7:25-7:30 but still challenging.  My coach cautioned me from "racing" due to having very little margin for recovery and could not miss training due to the Half Iron (1.2/56/13.1) distance triathlon scheduled on June 8th.  

During the race I ran with the Minnesota Pacers...runners assigned a specific finish time; 1:30, 1:40, 1:45..etc. etc. Race participants can run with a pace group and enjoy running while not paying attention to their watch, the Pacer does it for you!  It can be very social and fun or if you're trying to put the hammer down you only need to focus on your effort.  We talked, laughed and generally had a great time the entire time!  Liz, Will and Sarah met me at about mile 8, 11 and at the finish...so fun to have family support.  And, as predicted my friend Bill was watching out his living room window which looks over Crystal bay!  Always fun to see Bill.  A few years ago it was by coincidence that we happened to see each other.  Now it's become a bit of a ritual that we look forward to.  

 

I'm finding that my overall enjoyment of an event is much higher when I don't place pressure on myself to preform to a set goal time.  By nature I'm competitive and enjoy a race atmosphere.  That said, I was chasing the clock most of last year and despite several PR's (personal records) I was disappointed due to not achieving my set goal!  I left races disappointed and that does not feel good.  The last three races, (Get Lucky half marathon, Sand Diego Olympic tri, Lake Mtka, half marathon) my coach gave me one goal; to FINISH STRONG! He encouraged me to come away from the race full of confidence and feeling strong. 

I have and what a great feeling of success and confidence it creates...rather than defeat!  

Side note:

I saw a man running in the race on Saturday wearing a race shirt with Philippians 4:13 on the back.  "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!"  We talked about how meaningful this verse is to us.  

Here's to you and your family!