Big Woods Half Marathon

I had a blast at my first running race since January of 2007 last Saturday. I ran it with two freinds from college. One was his first race... ever and he did the half and the other won the 5K. I was extremely excited for both. I managed to come in sixth and was very satisfied as it was a very difficult course. I also overdressed causing me to overheat some. I don't know how but it seemed like ten degrees warmer on the course than I thought it was. Chalk that one up to experience. I will definitely dress down for the Monster dash next Saturday. It will be my last race of the year and I'm having trouble fighting back the sweets until then. Hopefully I won't have any trouble shaving some time off with a much easier and faster course.

Tuesday I read that I was cheated in Tri MN News for Athlete of the year. I must say Mario Minelli's comments were a huge compliment and I got a warm and fuzzy reading the article. However as much as I would like to disagree with the Midwest Multisport Committee I believe they made the right decision. Next year I will hopefully be able to do a couple of more competitive races to showcase my speed against the "Top Dogs". If I improve like I have been I could make a bid for Athlete of the Year next year.

As I've blogged earlier I am thrilled with getting a most improved nomination. To be honest I think it is more of an honor than Athlete of the year. To be most improved I believe you need to have an incredible amount of self discipline and sacrifice. Few people are able to make large improvements in short period of time. I don't want to take away from athlete of the year but that can be achieved through years of small improvements. I'm just amazed that I made such a splash this year that someone stood up for me and said "hey, what about this guy?" I was truly flattered.

Most Improved?

I seem to have been nominated for Most Improved Triathlete for the Midwest Multi Sports Awards. I am honored to be considered. I have worked extremely hard this last year and even had to overcome a nasty case of some sort of asthma. I guess I'm just glad someone besides my family has noticed my hard work. No doubt I have improved but Devon Palmer, Patrick Parish and Matt Payne are the other nominees.

Devon was fast last year but is out of his mind fast this year. I have little doubt he will be the Athlete of the Year. Patrick was the runner up for the rookie of the year last year and ran cross county at Duke. Although beyond probably the fastest runner Patrick has developed some serious swim and biking ability. Matt and I were very comparable last year. In fact there were a few races where only a couple of seconds separated us . Only this year he started the season with three wins to include one over me by nearly five minutes on a short course. Matt has gained ridiculous speed on the run and has continued to improve on the bike.

Fortunately the second half of my season was even better than the first. I don't know what happened but I almost out of nowhere found another level on my bike and shaved a good 10 seconds off my run split to include some improvements in the pool. I'm glad I'm not voting on this one. I definitely believe I am the outsider on this one but am humbled for even being considered. I'm as anxious as anyone to see how this one comes out.