I got off work at 5 and drove directly to Oak Harbor HS for the race. My most direct route took me down Woodville Rd and I got to see some of the devastation caused by the tornados. I tried to maintain my speed and not be a gawker, but it's a train wreck and everybody slows to look at a train wreck. As such, everyone in front of me was slowed, so I had no choice. Since the race was scheduled for a 7pn start, I took a side trip to get some Gatorade. I still got to the school before 6pm. Coach TD, Jim and Jude showed up shortly after that. Our 5th runner - who actually was our #1 runner - was the last to arrive. We checked in and did some warm ups before the race started.

When they yelled "GO!" I took off a bit too fast. Coach TD caught me at about the .3 mile area and told me I was slowing down as he ran past. I told him that I had no bounce in my feet and I did my best to stay on his heels. The first mile was 8:06. The second mile 16:23, so I slowed a little. I finished at 25:43 which is way off my record pace and nothing to be proud of. I came in 40th place and finished about 8 feet behind Coach TD. You'll notice, on the left side, he now occupies the top slot in the statistics. Until I beat him again, he'll remain there.

My foot did bother me a bit, but that's not the reason for the results of the race. I haven't done any core workouts in far too long and I haven't jumped rope in as long. I firmly believe that jumping rope really adds to the spring in my step and rebound when running pose. Rebound = speed in my opinion. To make matters even worse, I missed a kiteboarding session tonight, too.