Council Bluffs Half Marathon - race report

This was the second running of the Council Bluffs Half Marathon, and my first.  I wore my VFF Sprints - nearing 1200 miles but holding together nicely.  I didn't do any spring races last year but for some reason have been doing as many as I can this spring...  I knew all week that the race was going to be warm - high of between 85/90 for the day.  The morning of the race was a warm and humid 72 degrees.  The race started out with the 5k runners, and it was an out-and-back run for them.  I started towards the middle of the pack, because it was chip-timed and I thought I should probably start out slow for the first mile or two.  My first two miles were around 6:55 and 6:45, right where I wanted to be.  Around mile two I heard "nice barefoot shoes" (which still is an odd thing to say to somebody for many reasons...).  I ran with that guy for a few minutes, talking about the VFFs.  Around mile 3-4 one of the pacers for Team Nebraska talked to me a bit (he was on a bicycle) about the VFFs - he wore them for a trail run a few weeks ago.  The course was actually very nice and was flat.  Running by Lake Manawa allowed for some good scenery, although it smelled a bit fishy...  I kept as steady a pace as I could - ranging from about 6:35 to 6:50 per mile.  After the lake we hit my favorite part - a few hundred feet of single-track dirt trail - before jumping onto another trail and heading back toward the finish.  I worked my way up little by little, passing a couple of people every mile.  When mile ten came around I was getting a bit tired from the sun beating down on me - at the last few water stops I dumped a cup of water on my head - VERY nice feeling.  The last few miles of the race were very pleasant - we ran through another concrete trail with nice trees.  I caught up with a female runner who I could see for the last two miles or so right at the 13 mile marker.  I thought she might race me to the finish but I went on without her.  Finished in 1:29:08 (chip time), 10th overall.  Not too bad for the heat/humidity.  I felt great afterward - could have gone further.  Overall it was a fairly well-organized race.  Although, the expo was very weak and they didn't put out bananas/oranges until around 2:00:00.  A bit pricey too, at $60.

bib number:	236
age:	27
gender:	M
location:	Blair, NE
overall place:	10 out of 635
division place:	2 out of 42
gender place:	9 out of 278
time:	1:29:08
pace:	6:49
gun time:	1:29:38

Next up - Boystown Memorial Day 5 Mile Run

Chicago Marathon 10.10.10

So I was reading about the Boston Marathon results a couple of weeks ago...  I found out that Ryan Hall donated all of his prize money from the race ($25,000) to his charity, the Hall Steps Foundation.  I thought that was interesting so I researched a bit more.  He started the foundation with his wife, Sara Hall, who is also an incredible runner.  Here are some details from their website:

The Hall Steps Foundation aims to empower the running community to use the energy and resources that fuel runners’ athletic achievements for social justice efforts. Currently in its first year of operation, the Steps Foundation funds initiatives that tackle structural causes of poverty such as chronic lack of access to basic entitlements including clean water, shelter and physical security. Specifically, Steps partners with leading international and local nonprofits in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia to fund projects that invest in sustainable methods of enhancing access to basic essentials. To-date, this has included (1) constructing community wells in East Africa to secure water access; (2) funding an orphanage in Kenya to ensure access to shelter and basic education; and (3) sponsoring legal counsel for victims of human trafficking in Southeast Asia to enhance victims’ physical autonomy. In the U.S., the Hall Steps Foundation is funding youth mentor and running programs across the country that aim to position athletic activity, goal-setting and training camaraderie at the center of the national movement to improve youth health, fitness and opportunity.

The more I found out the more I thought is was a great idea.  One of the "nonprofits" that they team with is WorldVision, a Christian organization.  The three main goals of the HSF are:

1. Mentoring running programs to get kids active and fight childhood obesity
2. Providing clean water to rural communities in Africa
3. Anti Human-Trafficking

I then noticed on the site that they were looking for runners to join them at the Chicago Marathon this October.  I mentioned it to my wife and she wanted to do it too!  So now we are registered to run the marathon for the Hall Steps Foundation.  We each need to raise $1500, which sounds like a good challenge for both of us.  We haven't started formally raising money yet but we have our information on their site.  More to follow...

Here are our sites:

nick - me

erica

Garmin Forerunner

So I decided to get a GPS watch...  I went with the new Garmin Forerunner 110 - in black with the heart rate strap.  I finally got this one because it actually looks like a watch, is lightweight and I can be a nerd and look back at the data from my runs!  Here is the last run that I collected data from:


10 mile run