I hope that you are all doing well.
Until last Sunday, the last time that I ran a race was in the mid-1990's while I was living in D.C., and much younger. However, I got the wild idea to run the Big Sur/Monterey Bay Half Marathon last weekend. It's a spectacular course the goes along the Pacific Ocean and the field is very competitive. Over 9,000 people started the race, and the organizers brought in a group of world class Kenyans to provide more competition for a good group of American runners. It's an out-and-back course so I saw the Kenyans cruising along at 4:46 per mile. I ran a 1:39:10, which is about a 7:34/mile pace. I was under 7:30/mile for the first 11 miles and then faded the last 2.1 miles. I finished 9th in my age category (55-59) and 270th overall in the men's competition. So, not very impressive but I don't care. I can't decide whether to do the smart thing and re-retire from racing or try again next year. The enclosed photo shows how tired I was at the finish line, and I was sore for the next two days. Getting old sucks.
I don't have Mark Raybuck's e-mail address to post this on his blog.
Have a great Thanksgiving.
Rob
