Firehouse 2 mile run

I spent a 3-day weekend in Grand View, Wis. for a family reunion on the same weekend on the annual town picnic and the popular Firehouse 50 bike race. My wife Kathy has been running a little bit and was ready to run her first race, the 2-miler on Sunday. Well, during the weekend, numerous bug bites, and who know what else, caused one of Kathy's ankles to swell. It remained swollen for a few days and was still not better Saturday night. Kathy didn't think she was going to run the race. Bummer. Saturday morning (early) she was still not going to run. I had promised Kathy that I would run the race with her and I was really looking forward to that.

I took a short drive to town to register myself for the 2 miler. Instead of looking forward to an easy run (since Kathy and my paces are far from equal) I was now thinking about what degree of pain to put myself through. My nephew had said he was going to run a 12:00 and he was going to beat me. I said....Yes you will, but set your goal to 11:59 so you can be sub-6's. I decided to shoot for a 6:10 first mile and a 6:35 second mile. That would give me a 12:45 which would be a 9 second improvement over the last time I ran the race four years ago. Doable. It was nice to have the plan set and I got my shirt and bib and I headed back to the shack.

Kathy was up and her ankle was NOT swollen. She said she wanted to run the race and we headed back to town to get her registered. I erased the plan (6:10/6:35) from my head and breathed a little easier.

[fast forward to the race]

At race time we got our chips and loaded into Firetrucks and pickups for the ride out to the start. My gym teacher from 2nd Grade was driving the pickup truck we rode in. I remembered a story my Mom told me once about a 10 mile race she and him were in together. Before the race, he asked my Mom if he could just pace with her [I assume he wanted to run 'easy']. :-) She said: Sure. Mom said that it wasn't long into the race when she left him in the dust of the gravel road, huffing and puffing. I decided not to bring up his running past because that was the only story I knew.

This race was chip-timed with a horn start and just a finish line mat. The horn sounded and off we went. Kathy ran hard and only walked while taking drinks from her water bottle. In the end, she ran longer than she ever had before and at a faster pace than she expected. We finished in 18:56 and Kathy still does not enjoy running, but she finished, and she ran hard all the way. Oh, my nephew ran a 13:45 so next year I think I will be racing him. He's got some work to do to get down to the 12:00 he wants to run. I don't know if I'll beat him but whatever happens, it will be fun.

Next up: Urban Wildland 5K where Kathy and I will be running together.

This morning I registered for the Birkebeiner Trail Marathon [race date: 9/25]. This is the first year of the individual marathon event. I'm hoping the beautiful Fall colors will take my mind off the numerous rolling hills I'm sure to encounter.

--Mark