Fox Cities Half-Marathon.

Don't want to rehash my recent history again. It's all on my blog. Suffice to say that my last race was the Chicago half in August of last year. I weighed 185 pounds, did not train well, and finished in a pathetic 2:37. I promised myself and I stated on this site that this would not stand and guess what? It didn't!

I faithfully followed Hal's half program all through a scorching hot summer. I came to the starting line yesterday at 157 pounds. Still a little heavier than I was 4 years ago when I was at my best but a lot better than I was a year ago.

I had not done Fox Cities before so did not know what to expect but something new was just what the doctor ordered. I grew up in Wisconsin but am not all that familiar with the Appleton, Neenah, Menasha area that comprise the Fox Cities. The expo was small but I had no intention of lingering there. They did provide a pretty nice string backpack goodie bag. The weather forecast was calling for 36 degrees and northwest winds of up to 20 mph. I was initially worried but Nick Morris pointed out to me that this would mean a tailwaind for most of the race. After studying the course map I felt a little more secure.

Sunday morning was cold but not nearly as windy as was forecast. I was shivering at the start but once I started running I was fine. The wind would not reaally be a factor. First mile came in at 9:31 and second at 9:35. Okay, but don't get excited yet. I have a history of crashing late in races. Third mile was 9:27 and fourth was 9:39. I kept thinking when is the other shoe going to drop? Before the race I thought if everything went well that maybe I could pull off a 2:10. A big if. After the third mile the course turned southeast and it seemed to be going downhill forever. Not a steep downhill, but it just seemed like we were almost always going on a slight downhill. I kept checking my watch and kept staying ahead of the 2:10 pace. A 9:27 in the seventh, a 9:30 in the eigth. I was gaining confidence and kept moving more and more ahead of the 2:10 pace. This has to be the fastest course I have ever run on. Why didn't I do this race before? It is a very well run event also. My two pet peeves with every race have always been not enough water stations and mile markers missing or not visible. This race had plentiful water stations. I almost thought a couple of them were too close together. But better to have too many thaan not enough. The mile markers were clearly visible at every mile, even the 13th which often gets forgotten about. Kudos to the race organizers. They are on top of this.

The last few miles took us into Neenah. A couple of small hills when traversing bridges. A portion of the run along Lake Winnebago, then the finale in Riverside Park. By now I knew I was going to beat the 2:10 goal I had set and crashing was not going to happen. I was wearing a knit cap and pulled it off with a mile left. Sweat went flying everywhere and the cap must have weighed 2 pounds. Tucked it into my waistband and opened the throttles as much as I could for the home stretch. I finished in 2:05:51. I was overjoyed. I never expected this. Every mile of the race was between 9:27 and 9:58. Not a single 10. I never had this kind of consistency even when I was doing sub-4 marathons 5 years ago.

So I am back. The doubts have been erased. I know that I can still do it. Those awful races from last year are a memory. I am fired up and can't wait to start training for my next one. I am thinking of a full marathon late next year and a half in the spring. Maybe Chicago or Twin Cities in the fall. Maybe Green Bay or Indy in the spring. I am making a mission trip to Kenya with my church in February so I have to stay in tip top shape over the winter.

Fox Cities is a good race and I would highly recommend it. It certainly provided me with a chance to redeem myself!

Congrats, Jim. You are indeed back - excellent job!!!!

I told you it was going to be fast Good work!!!

So I guess a "welcome back" is in order?

Congrats on the strong race, and its great to see you are excited to build on this result.

Welcome back, Jim.

Great race Jim. Very well-paced and controlled. Nice work!

Driving from New Berlin to the Fox Cities you passed directly by the house I grew up in off Hwy 41 / Hwy 21 in the Town of Algoma. Very cool!

Nice going, Jim, great race and great come-back.

Great job, Jim! Congratulations! I agree that's a very well organized race.

Way to go Jim. This was a great comeback race and your future is bright. Get your shades out.

That is a great feel-good story! Congrats and great race!

Fantastic race, Jim....with the way you trained and got yourself in shape...no doubt!