First of all, I did not stick to the 8 week training plan I set up (link). I probably ran about half as much as I should have and ate way too much the last couple of weeks. It was around my birthday and was going out to lunch alot and blah blah blah. I did run a 5 mile race 2 weeks ago and finished in 47:48 with a 9:35 mile pace. Not too shabby, for me.

I went up to Omaha yesterday to do my check-in and go to the Runner’s Expo. It was lame compared to Lincoln’s, a lot smaller and in a really hot room. It was also harder to check in, and I had to wait and was getting annoyed. In Lincoln you could just look up your number right next to the check in spot, in Omaha you had to find this lady who would then flip through and try to find you.

 Then I went to the Carbo-Load pasta fest. It was great. All the Kid volunteers were really super. I inhaled some salad and pasta and about 5 ounces of water (all that they put in my glass) and left.

I woke up at 6 this morning, got ready, and got to the race about 2 minutes before the gun. I had parked far away, so I had to run part of the way there to be on time. I think it was an OK warmup. When I got closer I realized there was plenty of parking right by the start.

The first 6 miles were pretty great. The first 2 or 3 were pretty congested but it spread out after that. Mile 7 was uphill, mile 8 and 9 were up and down, mile 10 was downhill. I was feeling pretty good. Omaha is a lot more hilly than Lincoln but I motored through them the first 10 miles. I had to walk a few times on miles 11 and 12, mainly on uphill parts, probably a quarter of a mile total. I was kind of hurting. I ran mile 13 all the way to the finish. I felt pretty good about that.

I finished in 2:23:20 with a 10:57 pace. Slower than the Lincoln Marathon, but I’m not to surprised, since I was pretty slack in training.

One difference between the Lincoln and Omaha race is that despite all the great volunteers giving out water, giving directions, and cheering you on, there were no mile timers in Omaha. In Lincoln, at every mile marker, there was someone yelling out the time so you could kind of judge your speed and pace. I don’t wear a watch, so that is really helpful.