Chips and Salsa Half Marathon to Chicago Marathon

Another thing to add from last week was the Chips and Salsa Half marathon we have here in Albuquerque. This was last sunday, and the point of it was to run about marathon pace or faster up here at altitude. The course is flat with a bunch of turns, but it actually is a nice course. There were two Moroccans being paced on a bike, me, Kris and John. My lovely girlfriend; Laura, was going to pace us on a bike as well. So after blitzing the first mile in 5:02, I make a wrong turn and have to turn around. Once back on track, everyone in the top five makes another wrong turn which ends up being a 210 meter diversion. After that little mishap, everyone is back on course and back on pace. I clicked off a few solid miles, while staying as comfortable as possible and taking in water and gatorade along the way. At this point I am in 3rd place and am not able to gain much ground on the two Moroccans. I ended up finishing in 3rd place with a time of 1:09:34 with the 210 meter diversion.

After that effort, I feel pretty good about going into Chicago. That effort, with some rest before the marathon should prove to be a great day in a few weeks. I'm also excited to be in a huge group of guys going for that Olympic Trials time, as well as being in a big city marathon with a ton of spectators. Basically, this marathon is going to be like the Olympic Trials, since there are going to be a bunch of Americans in that field. And finally, this will be my first Major Marathon.