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.