The Crim 08/25/07

I'm finally getting a chance to write up my RR for The Crim in Flint, MI.<br><br>
I arrived at my friend Nick's in the metro Detroit Area at 5:30 on Friday. We had dinner plans with some friends of his who were also running the Crim, so while he was getting ready, I vegged out on his couch (eyes closed, but not totally asleep). At a little after 6, he got my attention when he said "it's time to leave, and there is a tornado warning for my county." We still went to his friends' house, staying just ahead of the storms the whole way. Later that evening, we learned that tornadoes had indeed hit not too far south & west of Flint.<br><br>
Saturday, we got up really early as we had to drive over an hour to get to Flint. The weather was not too hot (60's I believe) and it remained mostly cloudy (with some brief showers) all morning, but it was extremely humid.<br><br>
Nick's friends had all run The Crim before, so they had given us some nice tips. They also warned us about the <a href="http://www.crim.org/maps/Crim%20200710mile+elevation.pdf" target="_blank">Bradley Street Hills</a> between miles 5 & 6. Several of my recent training runs were fairly hilly, so I felt prepared for them. My goal was to finish in under 1:50 (11:00 pace).<br><br>
Alas, it was not to be. I ended up going out faster than I should have. I missed the 1st mile marker, and at mile 2, my time was 21:19 (10:40 pace). I tried backing off, and at mile 5, my time was 53:54. I refueled with sport beans and water just before mile 5.<br><br>
That is where I started having trouble. My stomach began hurting the way it does in a hard 5K. I had to start taking walk breaks. Even with the breaks, at about mile 7.5, I very close to puking. I didn't, but that was the point at which I knew I wasn't going to push for my goal time. The entire rest of the race was a walk-run. I think mile 9 was the only complete mile running after mile 5.<br><br>
Chip time: 1:52:27<br><br>
It wasn't my day in the end, but given how I felt during the 2nd half, I'm satisfied with my time. The Crim was a good race overall: well organized, good crowd support, not too expensive, pizza and beer after. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Very Happy"> Now, if the race director could just do something about the weather...