Al’s Run – Milwaukee, WI – 8K (5 miles)
one of the things i really like about Al’s Run is that the start isn’t until 10:30, which allows for a little more sleep. i made it downtown, found a parking spot near the start and made my way to pick up my number. i found the team captain (ryan) and met some of the other guys on the roster for Instep/Hillrunner.com. we did a twelve minute warm up together, stretched a bit then headed for the starting line.
the first mile is mainly downhill, which can pull you out way too fast and make the rest of the race a real struggle. pete, another team member, and i decided to take it out “controlled” at 6:15-ish. as the race started, we made our way down wisconsin avenue and gingerly stepped over a section of cobblestones in front of the grand avenue mall. (how quaint.)
we passed the first mile in 6:00 or so, which felt reasonably controlled – – with a tailwind pushing us along. as we headed north, a spectator recognized me and said “go jerry” but i didn’t have the opportunity to see who it was. pete and i rolled through the second mile in around 12:25. shortly thereafter a group of bagpipers were playing which is much more motivating to me than anything found on my ipod. pete moved forward as we made our way down lafayette hill and onto lincoln memorial drive.
once onto lincoln memorial drive, i passed the 3 mile mark in 18:52. i kept pete’s orange shirt in sight but admittedly struggled with the wind on this section of the course. by four miles i was at 25:20 and was figuratively just hanging on. passing by the art museum, i tidied up my form for the cameras taking pictures of us as we passed. we then zig-zagged our way through the fifth mile and after making the last left turn i could see the finish line with the clock reading 31:20-something. i picked up the pace one last time and watched the clock roll through 31:30’s then 31:40’s as i neared the line. it rolled to 31:50 and i started counting the seconds in my head as i strained to get to the line.
by my count, i was in at 31:58 however the chip on my shoe failed to register as i crossed the line. i walked a bit to catch my breath and made my way over to talk with ryan, pete and a few other guys. after a drink of water, i realized it was getting a bit cold so ryan, pete and i made our way back to our cars.
looking at the results it looks like our team won the team competition. pete and i were the sixth and seventh runners respectively and didn’t “score”. regardless, we both made it into the top 100 finishers which isn’t too bad, all things considered.
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