Good Day for Vakava in Fargo!

So a few members of the Vakava race team were up in Fargo this weekend participating in the festivities in conjunction with the Fargo Marathon. Nichole has been focused on this marathon for a few months now (check out her blog for a full recap), and I figured it would be a lot more fun to spectate from in the race than on the sidelines, so I was in the half marathon. I have actually been putting in a lot of running lately (for me at least), so I am in pretty good running shape (once again, for me). While I tend to be a reasonably patient ski racer, I am horribly impatient in running races. At the Earth Day half marathon a few weeks back I had gone out like gang-busters and had still been able to hold on for a pretty good PR just due to fitness, but today I was going to try a different strategy: I was going to pace Nichole (and her training partner Jenny) through the 10 or 11 mile mark at 6:50 pace, and then I was going to kick it in to the finish. This was a lot of fun, but it sure was tough to keep from bolting ahead. I spent the first 10 miles making sure they took the tangents around the corners, got their feeds, and pushing through groups of slower runners (which makes to pass the time really well!). At the 10 mile mark I told Nichole that I was going to go, and she gave me her long sleeve and I was off. It was amazing to actually have a kick at the end, and I finished the last 3 miles in 6:22, 6:20, and 6:19 (all with a hot pick long-sleeve tied around my waist) for a new PR by 35 seconds of 1:28:13!

Mary Beth was also in the area helping her sister clean up after all the flooding in the Fargo area, and decided to jump into the 5k to run with her niece. So just for good measure she won the race (19:40). Her 13 yr old niece was 4th! :)