Beautiful Day, Tough Course

Michigan weather can be very unpredictable. Last Friday it was about 80 degrees, then Saturday it dropped into the 40’s. Sunday morning, as about 2000 runners lined up for the start of   The Brooksie Way half-marathon, many were wearing jackets and running pants as the thermometer read 43. I knew I’d warm up fast once the gun sounded so I left my jacket in the car and started in shorts and a tee-shirt.  Minutes into the race I was glad I’d made that choice. The sun came out in a bright blue sky and the weather was ideal.

The Brooksie Way is a well-organized event in Rochester, MI that runs through neighborhoods, retail districts, a charming downtown and on trails through woods. It also has hills. Lots of hills. Not steep, short hills, (well, maybe one or two), but looong, seemingly never-ending hills. And somehow, very few downhills. Not sure how that’s possible but that was the feeling.

Even in the starting corral I was still undecided about what pace I would run. I know that’s not a great strategy but I was torn between racing this event versus just running it as a training run to prepare for another half-marathon I’m running in four weeks. I lined up between two pace times and thought I’d split the difference. That’s right where I finished. It was good training pace. Not too fast but not a walk in the park either. Fast enough to be in the top half of my age group which is always my minimum goal.

Now if only my hip would stop hurting…