Well, today was the much anticipated Syttende Mai 20 miler, and like the Lake Monona 20k that I did a couple weeks ago, it went better than I thought it would and I exceeded all my expectations. The morning was pretty ideal for the start of the race at the capitol. It was sunny and cool and a bit breezy. Luckily, for the runners, the wind was mainly at our backs throughout the race. Earlier this week I wrote how I wanted to run a somewhat conservative pace for the run but it really didn't work out that way. I started fairly fast out of the blocks and was able to maintain that pace throughout the race and felt very comfortable and relaxed in doing so. At about 4 miles I spotted my brother Pete, and as I went by him he asked me how my pace was and I just said, "It's a little fast but I feel fine." I was a bit worried that I might not be able to hold the 7 minute pace I was running for the hilly course, but through 12 miles there was still really no drop off. I did slow a touch around 13 to 17 miles, but then I got a second wind for the last three miles and really picked up the pace again. My last three mile splits were 7:04, 6:54 and 6:36. All in all, I ran a very even split race, and I was able to best my 2004 Syttende Mai time by over 40 seconds by averaging 7:09 per mile for the 20 miles. My finishing time was 2:22:45 and I finished 25th out of 375 runners. One of the big surprises for me was that I actually finished 3rd in my age group and was able to get one of the coveted Syttende Mai awards... a beautiful rosemaled plate with your placing on the back. Rosemaling is a really cool form of artwork that the Norwegians are famous for. The plate that I received is a very unique award, and after aquiring many medals over the past several years for running, this one is very special to me... especially since I am half Norwegian. It was quite a day for me and I was very proud how I ran.
I was also very appreciative that my brother Pete and his kids came out to watch me again like they did for Lake Monona. It's always a good feeling to have family and friends there to cheer you on and encourage you during a race. It was also nice that my good friend David Dexheimer came down to the start of the race to wish me luck. Dave was the one who took the picture of me and the Syttende Mai King and Queen before the start. I thought I would include it in the blog entry to add a little flavor to the Syttende Mai race day experience.
This will probably be my last race before doing Grandma's in June. I was thinking about doing the Madison Half-Marathon next weekend, but the more that I think about it, I really want to take a few weeks off from racing and just concentrate on the remainder of my training... that, and the fact that I don't want to pay the $60 to $70 dollar entry fee for the race... those entry fees can add up;)
Today's race: 20 miles > 2:22:45 > 7:09 pace
Miles this week: 46.3
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