2013 Lighthouse Run Recap

As I have in many years past, I joined the SCJ OFF! and Running team at the Lighthouse Run on June 15, 2013. It was a rainy morning, which can sometimes lead to fast times. I was fully in team spirit mode because one of my teammates (Jorge) and I were planning to run together. Our e-mail conversation went like this:

Me: See you at the Lighthouse Run on Saturday!

Jorge: We are running together right? 7:15 pace?

Me: Sure! 7:15 pace sounds perfect. See you then.

If I could manage 7:15 pace, I would finish in 1:12:30, which would be a personal best by about a minute. So how'd it go?

I wore my orange shirt and black shorts, which I wore when I slashed my marathon PR in Kenosha in May. Instead of my orange shoes, I wore my Saucony Grid Fastwitch 3s, also known as my fast shoes. I wore a light jacket to stay dry until the race began.

Mile 1 (6:57): Right from the start, Jorge surprised me by going faster than 7:15 pace. He was 20-30 feet ahead of me before I knew it. Rather than spend extra effort to catch up to him, I decided simply to keep him in my sights in the hopes that he'd settle in to a slower pace. I waved to my family, including Grandma Iz, as I zoomed by on Lake Avenue and headed north.

Miles 2-4 (7:10, 7:11, 7:11): The course changed this year. Instead of going north on Main all the way to Four Mile Road, we turned right onto Three Mile Road, bending north onto Lighthouse Drive, then heading west on Four Mile Road. Basically, we did the same loop as in past years, but in the opposite direction. Fine by me. Jorge slowed down a bit, but he was still going faster than 7:15 pace. I kept him in my sights, though, still planning to catch him later on.

Mile 5 (7:05): I grabbed a bottle of water from Aunt Sue. I didn't need much of it because the steady rain was keeping me cool. I was hoping that the rain would taper off to a drizzle, but I was still pretty happy with the conditions. I'll take this over 80+ degree heat anytime.

Miles 6-7 (7:13, 7:15): Jorge was not slowing down. From my perspective, I couldn't tell if he was speeding up or not, but he was getting further away from me. I noticed him look back a few times, and I waved to let him know I was okay.

Miles 8-9 (7:25, 7:31): Continuing south on Main Street toward the finish, I had to ease up. I had not expected to go this fast. Jorge was out of range, but I was glad that he was doing so well.

Mile 10 (6:59): I saved a bit for the finish. The reality is that I was ahead of personal record pace, and a solid final mile could get me a sub-72 minute result. I zoomed past the fun run / walk folks and cruised to a finish in a satisfying 1:11:57.

Let's check out the team results. I finished fourth on the team, good enough to get me a medal, as the team finished in second place. The InSinkErator guys had too much speed for us to win the corporate division. Maybe we'll get 'em next year.

An added bonus -- I finished fourth in my age group, so I actually got two medals. Woohoo!