Windsor Green Half Marathon

Jogging continues to be an important hobby for me. Yesterday I got up and ran 10 miles around Rohnert Park to make sure I was keeping up with my "5-miles-a-day-May" since I missed my five miles on Friday. I also washed my car, watched Jaime's son Cooper play some baseball, took an afternoon nap, rode my motorcycle up to Windsor to pickup my bib number and shirt then relaxed at home that evening. It was quiet around the house as Evan and Emma were in Tahoe.

Sunday I got up bright and early for my third annual Windsor Green Half Marathon. I met Amanda and we headed to the race start. She discovered that she had left her earphones in the car so we ran back to her car and then back to the race start with one minute to spare. There was just enough time to get my Runkeeper activated and we were off! Mile after mile passed and I kept at a sub-eight minute pace. I just kept thinking "use the electric (Aerobic) engine". Once in a while to keep at pace I had to use my gas "anaerobic" engine to get up the hills. I knew by mile 9 I was going to have one of my best, if not the best half marathon times I've ever had. It was thrilling, so much so that I got a runners high while listening to a remixed version of "The Funeral" by Band of Horses that really sped me up for the 10th mile.

Looking back at the Windsor Half, I started out really strong in 2010 in 1 hour 56 minutes. That's about 8 minute 50 second miles. Then in 2011 I ran it just as I was recovering from shin splints and took 2 hours 17 minutes. That's about ten and half minutes per mile. This year I'm back stronger than ever and made a personal record! I finished the race in 1 hour 44 minutes by the race clock, that's less than 8 minutes per mile on average! I'm really thrilled with my progress and know I'm totally ready for the Santa Rosa Marathon on August 26th!

The map, a picture and all the stats can be found on my Runkeeper page. After the race Amanda and I went to get lunch at the High Tech Burrito. The vegan tofu for me, of course!

Late Entry Update! When the official results were posted I hadn't checked them. Amanda did, and saw I finished 7th for my age bracket! She brought in vegan cupcakes (ginger and carrot) and announced it in our team meeting. It was very thoughtful and meant a lot to me. The official results posted for me are:

Place...Name...........City.............State...Bib #..Age..Overall Place
7.......Ross Stivison..Rohnert Park..CA......655....33...87

Chip Time___Gun Time_____Diff____Pace
1:44:29.4___1:44:41.3____0:11.8__7:59/M