Last Sunday, I ran the inaugural Capital City Classic 15k (formerly was known as the Governor's Cup) sponsored by Bryan Health, the Lincoln Track Club, and others. It was a very fun race. Although I had never run this precise course before, much of it coincides with both the Lincoln Marathon course (Normal Boulevard) and the Good Life Halfsy (Lincoln's point-to-point half-marathon). Arrived early for the race, parked a few blocks away. Some parking was sealed off near the Nebraska State Capitol due to the race running around 1/2 of the building (2 of 4 side streets). But it was a beautiful autumn day, sunny, a little breezy. There were a few more hills than I was expecting but will talk about that later. I decided to carry my OrangeMud single hydraquiver vest with water so I wouldn't have to stop much for water during the race. This was a very good speed test for me in preparing for the Good Life Halfsy that I am running in November. Just wanted to see how long I could hold race pace to PR my half next month. The race starts in the shade on the south side of the Capitol building. We started about a minute early (no big deal) after the wheelchair participant got a short headstart. Knowing that the 5k runners were going to leave 3 minutes after us, no 15k runner wanted to be "caught" by a 5k runner. So there was a burst of speed at the beginning. After running north on 14th Street for one block, the course turns east onto K street, which becomes Capitol Parkway, which becomes Normal Boulevard. We turned south on 56th Street (almost at Holmes Lake, not quite) and continued south until Calvert. On Calvert, the race course turns west and continues west until about 17th Street, when it winds back towards the Capitol. I really like that the course finishes allowing us to run the "wrong way" on K Street (with lanes safely blocked off), like the old Lincoln Marathon course used to until they changed it. Then the course winds back to the finish. It's an out and back rectangular loop.

First, I want to give major appreciation to all the traffic police on this course. There are some very busy crossing streets that this course crosses and they kept us safe at all times.

I got off to a good start, 6:37 a little under my target half-marathon pace. Then I slowed down a little. The first 5k was pretty fast: 22 something minutes. I got excited early when I looked at my Garmin Fenix 3HR and saw a +8 into "good" HR range. That showed me that I had a lot of energy to utilize during the race. Unfortunately on hills, my heart-rate tends to spike a little.

One decision I made was to employ walk breaks. I've been training for my half-marathon using regular routine walk breaks. So I used about 2:00 total of walk breaks here: one minute of :30 breaks and the rest were about :15 each (two were water stops). That was done to drop my heart rate a little and to let my lungs refill (as an asthmatic). Also to conserve energy.

Although I had made the determination that I was not going to stop for water, I did near the end stop for at least 2 water stops. My OrangeMud bottle was almost empty and didn't want to run out of water. I skipped at least 3 or 4 water stops during the race. It seems like the water stops were about every 2 miles or so.

One part of the race that people should prepare for is the hills on Calvert Street. Here I encountered the wheelchair participant very bravely and courageously spinning himself up the hill. But I noticed he was struggling a little. So I gave him some encouraging words, told him I was proud of him, and that he could do it. Not only did he finish, he passed me on the way to the finish so he recovered. All of us seemed to slow down a little on these hills. Do some hill work before this race if you are running the full 15k. It will help. I wish I had done more hill intervals prepping for the race.

My back was a little sore so I wore a T-shirt (my Run Laughlin shirt) under my BibRave shirt trying to keep my back warm. That was probably a mistake. With the OrangeMud vest on top of that, it got too warm for me after about 5 miles. Next time just wearing the singlet. With a breeze, it's sometimes hard to tell how cool you may get during a race (depending on cloud cover).

I did seem to get a little dehyrdated but had water with me and water stops were everywhere.

The crowd to cheer us on was a little thin in spots but the people that turned out were very supportive (touch this sign for POWER was a common one), kids with high-fives. It was fun to see hundreds of pumpkins out on Sheridan Boulevard returning to the Capitol. Someone was having a pumpkin sale. And there is significant tree cover protecting us from the sun on Sheridan Boulevard. Still wise to wear a hat or visor. I wore my BibRave Buff (which worked well) but perhaps a visor may have been wiser for such a sunny day.

When you can see the State Capitol from 17th Street, we know we are near the finish. That's about 8 miles or so into the race.

The exciting part of this race for me was that I knew I was going to PR this race given that I have never really raced this distance. And that happened. 1:12:21 (7:46 pace). Good for 10th in my age group, 47th overall. Slower than expected but very pleased with it for a sunny, warm day with unexpected hills.

After the finish, I absolutely LOVE that they had 5 different flavors of Italian ice (i only tried peach and pineapple) but both of those were magnificent! Especially on a hot day. They also had bananas, cookies, water, pop, etc. So I grabbed a banana too and more water.

It was great to see one of our local Galloway group fellow runners finish 2nd in her age group (by less than 1 second). She was pleased with her race, too.

Overall a great race experience. I think about 900 runners ran the 5k and 15k together. Not sure how many ran the 15k (at least 250 I think). So once you get into the middle of this race, you may find yourself alone and we all have to find ways to push through that. Sometimes it's nice to run alone for at least short stretches, though. We all need our space.

Great race, definitely want to run this one again. I think there's a kids' race of 1 mile with this too for those of you with kids. Great fun for the whole family!

Last Saturday, I ran the Cornhusker State Games 5k Road Race. I've run this race since 2012 (last year I ran the 10 mile when State Games of America replaced the state games here). Was very excited about the new course at Holmes Lake in Lincoln, Nebraska. The race course is a fairly easy 5k loop, mostly circling around Holmes Lake (with the exception of a short stretch running south on 70th Street). Humidity really was a challenge for me during this race. There were adequate water stops along the way although I didn't stop for water (was carrying OrangeMud water bottle in Hydraquiver vest). The new course was well marked with arrows and volunteers. The volunteers were helpful and there was a walk going on with the state games in the same location so our paths intersected a little bit. It was a little warm (81 degrees according to Garmin) but very humid and the humidity unfortunately sapped my strength and those of many others. I was also dealing with recovery from a back injury and so it was tough to push the pace very much. After a pretty fast 7:26 first mile, I realized that I was not going to be able to continue that pace due to my injury. So I backed off a little and just tried to enjoy it, have fun, and achieve my only goal of finishing the race. I really wanted to medal in my age group if possible but I realized that my lingering injury would make that very difficult to accomplish. I had medaled in my age group the past 4 years in a row (last year I was the gold medalist in the State Games of America and was silver and bronze medalist for 3 years before that in the State Games in my age group). So despite the fact that it was a rocky road for me, I am happy to have run this race with so many dedicated runners, including a 72 year old man I spoke with after the race. Running is for all ages. I was a little surprised crossing the finish line to see my Garmin said it was only 3.09 miles. But this wasn't a certified 5k length race. Running the tangents produces slight differences like that. So I ran .02 more to make it official. Official time was 25:21, 6th place of 11 in my age group. Slower than I wanted. I noticed the bronze medalist in my age group was someone I ran with on World Running Day in a group run and was happy to see it was someone that I knew. 78th place of 174 runners overall, including many young kids and at least one runner (probably more) over 70. This race was formerly run near Fallbrook neighborhood by the YMCA there but I (and I'm sure others) recommended moving it to Holmes Lake. It's a much better location and having a trail/limestone break from the concrete pavement always helps me as a trail runner: it drops my heart rate and the running just seems easier. Hopefully they will keep the race at this location in the future. It allows families and volunteers more flexibility with parking and easy access to the race course site (just be careful of cars on 70th Street though). Highly recommend this race, it's well-run and one of my favorites that I try to run every year, schedule permitting. Showing you before and after pictures on race day. Even though I didn't receive an age group medal this year, I carry the happy memories of running and finishing this race with some adversity with me.

Last Saturday, I ran this half-marathon in Norfolk, Nebraska for the second time. (I ran it 5 years ago on a tougher, hillier course.) The race is run in conjunction with the timing of Norfolk's Comedy festival (inspired by Johnny Carson who grew up in Norfolk). Hence the title: Laugh and a Half Marathon. The course is much improved since 2011, now running along the Cowboy Trail on the southern outskirts of Norfolk alongside and crossing the Elkhorn River several times. There is a 5k, 10k, and a kids' race for people who wish to race a different distance. The race begins and ends at Ta-Ha-Zouka Park where I played many times as a child who grew up in Norfolk. At first you run east for about a mile loop, then course winds back to the west to just past 7 miles or so, then turning back east to the finish. We crossed over the Elkhorn River at least six times during this race. All the bridges are wooden and one of them is very long. The course is on pavement until mile 4 or so, then I remember being on crushed limestone trail for about 5 miles, then back on pavement for the remainder. The crushed limestone was a wonderful part of the race. The scenery is beautiful and tree lined, birds singing beautifully all the way (especially on the western edge of the course near the final turnaround). The water stops were adequate. Carrying an OrangeMud vest with water, I only needed to stop for water once around mile 12. There is one point where you need to be careful of fast runners returning your directions after a turnaround (mile 1). Also, on the way back after the final turnaround, be careful on the road, there were some vehicles but they were all moving very slowly. There were some wonderful jokes on the course (2-part signs primarily). Some were knee-slapping funny. Kids squirted us with squirt guns on the course, that was fun. Also, someone shot silly string at us at the second water stop so we were all laughing at the surprising nature of that. It was refreshing to me to have plenty of room to maneuver and pass/accelerate, slow down without any bottlenecks in runners/path that I recall. It was a sunny humid day, the humidity presented some challenges but at least half the course was somewhat shaded by trees/buildings so that helped. I was impressed with the volunteers along the way, they were very helpful, offering high-fives, encouragement, support, and water. There was some live music along the way too (guitarists/singers) so I enjoyed that. Skipped the pasta feed the night before so I could eat pasta with my parents at their home (my sister did attend the pasta feed-she said the food there was ok). My sister ran the 10k and (to her surprise), won her age group. My race went very well until mile 9 or so when my Garmin died. Switched to Vivofit2 to calculate remaining mileage. Then I relied upon Vivofit, my phone, and Snapchat speed filters to stay on pace. Somehow that strange combination, combined with a little semi-detached running by feel propelled me to a 1:40:55 finish, 5th in my age group (40-49) and 33rd overall, 25th among men finishers. Although I was a little disappointed I didn't place in my age group, I was very pleased with running my fastest half-marathon in 17 years (ran 1:39 in Lincoln in 1999). The course is fast and mostly flat, some slightly rolling terrain. I'm classifying it as a trail race due to it running along the Cowboy Trail and the amount of crushed limestone portion of the race. I thoroughly enjoyed my race experience and will be writing up a more detailed account with more pictures on my blog (www.RunningGrooveShark.com). I didn't get a T-shirt but I registered past the deadline. They said I might still be able to get one if they had any left over but I forgot to check. There was a lot of joy, happiness and laughter in this race. Although I wasn't laughing when my Garmin died, I was laughing when I saw the finish line and my time. Expect to laugh at unexpected times in this race! It's set up to surprise you with laughter when you least expect it. And laughter helps us relax more which helps us run faster with less effort. The way I describe this race most simply is it provides a bountiful full dose of laughter for the price of a half-marathon (full laughs for the price of half). You will absolutely love the scenery of this course, the new course is gorgeous! And if you're a trail runner, you'll love this race! Thanks to race directors, volunteers, and runners who helped make this a wonderful, special, memorable occasion for me, helping me relax enough to run a speedy half! Photo below is from about mile 12 of the course just past the last water stop if I recall correctly. Enjoy this race! It's a fun family adventure, even for kids and people that want to race shorter distances (5k, 10k, kids race).

Ran this race for the first time today. This used to be called the Novartis Run, now it is GSK Run for Glaxo-Smith-Kline pharmaceutical co. The race starts on Normal Boulevard just north of Holmes Lake/Holmes Park in Lincoln. It was a frigid windy adventure. Also, there was a dangerous part crossing 56th Street at Normal Boulevard intersection. Police were trying to control traffic and a truck suddenly crossed in front of me, making me break my stride. Could have hit someone. So if you do run this race, be prepared to make a sudden stop at 56th Street if traffic does not obey police commands. There is a 2 mile adventure for kids primarily that was run right behind us, the 10k runners. The pavement for this course was slightly broken up on a few of the streets so be careful for that, potholes and cracks in pavement. I would rate the race higher if we just ran loops around Holmes Lake (crushed limestone, no traffic problems like I indicated). That of course would make it a trail race. But the race begins with about a mile loop near Holmes Lake, then extends west on Normal Boulevard, there is a nice downhill at about 1 mile and a few others. The race management was ok, volunteers seemed a little sparse and it was so cold we weren't breaking for water. I was able to break some records during this race: fastest 1k, mile, 2 mile, and 5k according to Strava. The wind was a factor at the end and the beginning of the race (easterly wind). The hill at the end of the race is unkind. I was also hampered by my Garmin dying at 4 mile mark so I was running by feel after that. So I did appreciate the man giving me a 5 mile race split. Sort of awkward: it was announced at the beginning this was a gun-timed race although we were wearing chip bibs but of course the finish line had chip mats I guess just to mark when exactly we hit them. But we were told we will all receive a gun time. I looked up at the clock when I finished and it said 44:50. The time I received was 45:54. So either the sun got in my eyes or the finish was further back on the last (3rd of 3 chip mats). I made a small error at the end that cost me a PR: I was concentrating on the finish and dropped a running glove. For some reason, I went back to retrieve it, broke my momentum. A spectator even told me: NO, don't go back for your glove. Finish first! Of course he's right. Finished 5th in my age group and 36th overall. If you do decide to run this race, just be very careful when there is any crossing traffic especially at 56th Street: drivers don't always obey police commands. Overall, it's an OK race but needs improvement and runner safety should be first and I'm not sure that was the case at 56th and Normal Boulevard, a very busy intersection and probably not a safe one for this race based on what I saw and experienced today. My main reservation about recommending this race is over safety. So I'm recommending the race with a strong caution for crossing traffic.