Saturday, November 3, 2007

Clinton Trail PR!

Just got back from running the Clinton Lake trail with Jeff & Gregg. I ran a 1:23:50--new PR for me! Jeff & Gregg were a little slower, but still had good runs. Perfect weather and the trail was in great shape. No rain over the last week so there were no slippery spots, no mud, just leaves on the dry trail. The best part about the run is that I'd call it "medium-hard." I'm going to break 1:20 before the end of the year. My new training program is going well. I was also pumped after watching the Olympic marathon trials this morning. Good training combined with some excellent motivation via the live trials coverage makes for a fantastic run.

My predictions didn't turn out too well. Of my top three predictions, only one qualified (Ryan Hall). But I did pick two of the top four. Not terrible. Here are the top four finishers (top three qualify for Olympics, but that fourth could go if one of the others doesn't run):

1. Ryan Hall (2:09:02)
2. Dathan Ritzenhein (2:11:07)
3. Brian Sell (2:11:40)
4. Khalid Khannouchi (2:12:34)

Khalid made me proud--he ran a tough race and may still have a shot at Beijing. Hall, Ritz, and Sell ran great races and all deserve to represent the US. Three guys from three different training camps. America marathoning is back on track! My biggest surprise was Abdi Abdirahman's poor race (DNF). He apparently had a bad hip. Full men's marathon trials results on the USAT&F site.

One very sad note: Ryan Shay collapsed around mile 5 and died. He was 28 years old. My thoughts go out to his family and friends. He was a great distance runner.

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