When he stops the race and looks around…

On July 4th, I ran in my second race of the year: The North Canton YMCA July 4th 2-mile! This was probably my favorite race yet!

I started out my morning by getting on my bike and riding the 3.33 miles from my apartment to the North Canton YMCA, which gave me a good warm-up workout. I got there nice and early (I didn’t have to be there until 8:10…I got there at 7:20), so I could stretch and just walk around and take in the atmosphere. If you’ve never been to a race, there’s something inspiring in seeing all these people who have trained themselves to finish these races. You often hear about how lazy Americans are, but you don’t see any of this at the races.

Anyway, I got ready around 8:00 for the race. My goal was to come in at just under 17 minutes, which would beat last month’s race time by about 10 seconds. Of course, I still can’t get my playlist to play on my new MP3 Player, so I cued up Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. The cannon fired, and I started running, weaving in and out of people who might trip me up.

As a crossed the 1-mile mark, the race worker called out “Eight minutes and thirty seconds.” Good time, but I would have to speed up in order to make my goal. So I pushed myself.

That last mile was hell…I don’t think I’ve ever felt so exhausted as I ran, and I almost stopped and walked part of it, but I was determined. I ran, getting behind someone with a good pace and using him as a gauge for how I was doing. And then, I could see the finish line.

It was an uphill climb to the finish line, but I could read that the timer said “16:30.” I knew that if I sprinted, I could make it in under 17. My goal would be accomplished. Except that, as I got a little closer, I realized that it had said “15:30!” I was a minute ahead of where I thought I would be! I pushed myself across the finish line, then began having dry heaves, my body pushed to its limit.

A ended up coming in at 15:54.21, which was over a minute and 10 seconds better than my goal time! This also means that in the last year, I’ve improved my time by over 2 1/2 minutes!

Anyway, after I finished, I jogged down the course and caught up with my friends Beth and Ilya, and cheered them along the last half-mile. Then, the 5 mile race started, and I waited down the course and cheered the otter and my friend Nour on. It was great seeing so many of my friends run (some of them much further than I did!), and as corny as it sounds, I’m proud of all of them!

Next race…The Pro Football Hall of Fame Festival 2 mile!