executive version: with my training focused on the mohican 100 and nervous about a niggling achilles tendonitis, i ran the michigan running fit trail marathon (4/25/99) with uneven effort but overall harder than i had planned. 5:15:34 total time with 2:19 for the first half and 2:56 for the second.

long version: i roled out of bed on sunday at 4:30 to get ready for the running fit trail marathon - north of ann arbor. a sharp pain in my achilles tendon reminded me of a niggling booboo in my right heel. it had started almost two weeks ago after two fairly hard road runs on back to back days. in the hope of nipping it in the bud, i laid off running completely for a week but the pain did not want to go away. the trail marathon was my test for whether there was any point in keeping up my hopes to run the mohican in june - and right now i was full of doubts... although still dark, the sky was cloudless and promised a beautiful day ahead. some hot oat meal, some last minute preparation and out the door heading north to michigan on empty highways.

the silver lake beach in the pinckney recreation area is the site of start and finish - and was it ever pretty. a crisp morning, fog floating up from the lake, and a pretty sun rise over distant hills. the start area itself was hoppin' with speedies left, right and center. i think the crowd in attendance had a cumulative fat content of 6 pounds - and those were all contributed by yours truly :-). it was a great surprise to meet again linda gorman (we had driven to the kentucky ultra trail sojourn together) and her indiana contingent. a low key start and off we trundled onto a narrow path into the underbrush. traffic was heavy on the narrow trails but as i had no goal beyond getting in some quality miles of pretty trails and testing out my achilles tendon i was far from developing any hectic. the half marathon loop itself was characterized by a constant up and down of the course, winding through great scenery of wooded hills, bridges over creeks, past lakes, and over sandy ridges. half marathon runners started later in three waves and many of them rushed past in a big blurr. at the end of the first loop the downhills were taking their toll and my thighs were screaming whenever they needed to break on yet another descent. my sore achilles tendon had started to tighten up and as i reached the start/finish area in 2:19, i was considering dropping out and giving it a rest instead of subjecting it to another lap of torture. this thought lasted about a millisecond, hey - i came up here to run and thats what i am gonna do...

on the second loop most runners around me had pealed off into the half marathon finish, and i was now on my own, running alone through gorgeous forests, a calmness filtered into my brain and took my mind of all the things that had been stretching my remaining sanity. I needed reminding for how incredibly lucky i was, a great sweetie wife and esteamed colleague, a wonderful 3-month old kid, nice friends and everybody was enjoying good health - how much better can life really get. before i knew it, i had 5Km left to go. To my great surprise i suddenly realized that the pain in my heel had vanished, nada, zip, gone, but the thighs were now really sore, this is what a lack of hill training in northwestern ohio does - i guess. who cares, another 3 miles to go and we are home - i dedicated the last three miles to our little bundle of joy, sebastian, who has really brightened up the last three months of our existence. as i am bumbling along with a big smile on my face, i get passed by three runners - and somehow that seemed wrong - these are sebastian's miles and nobody should pass me on these. i popped a GU and gave it a hard effort for the rest of the race. i overtook the three again on the last big uphill and motored into the finish with the fastest three miles of my run.

the aftermath has been ok. i havent had sore muscles like this after a race for a very long time. my thighs are still shot but my main concern, the achilles tendon, is ok - pounded into submission i guess. cleveland marathon is up next sunday, here we come...