Since 2012, my Super Bowl Sunday has involved the Super Half Marathon / Game Day 5k in some way. In 2012 and 2013, I ran the half marathon. Last year, as I was recovering from one hip surgery and soon to find out that I needed another, I volunteered at the Jack Quinn's aid station. 

This year was a little more meaning behind it. First, I'm running again after the hip surgeries. Woohoo! Second, it was on Super Bowl Sunday last year that I experienced initial symptoms of optic neuritis, which eventually led to an MS diagnosis. And the medication I take for that that has lowered my max heart rate, and I've yet to put in a very hard effort running. So I was interested to see what I could do this morning, and also in a way give MS the finger.

My 5k PR is 23:08 (5k on St. Patrick's Day), but I wasn't sure if I could hold a 10min pace for 3.1 miles this time, so I set my time goal for 30 minutes. 

For a winter day, it was great running weather. Cold, but not too cold, and sunny. I enjoyed the drumline that marched through the atrium of the Plaza of the Rockies. They were actually pretty tight! I also saw quite a few people I knew, so it helped make the start a little more relaxing.

I got in my warm-up (though not as much as I would have liked) and then as close to the start as possible, headed to the start. I lined up in the middle of the pack, and was hoping to start comfortably hard and then see what I could hold. I went quite a bit faster than I anticipated at the start, so I really hoped I wouldn't blow up. I figured once we came off the initial downhill section and got on to the trail, I'd settle into a realistic pace.

And that is pretty much what happened, but the realistic pace was a little faster than I had anticipated. I knocked out the first mile in 8:57 (per my Garmin data, I started at the gun, not when I crossed the line), so I figured mile 2 might be mid-9s or so, and that's how it started, but my legs felt good so I kept my eye on people in front and tried to catch them. Thank you to the guys in the Manitou Fire shirts and bright orange wigs for making easy to spot targets! I went 8:55 in mile 2. 

When I hit the turn-around, I knew I had the wind and a little bit of gravity on my side. So as long as my hips felt good and my heart and/or lungs didn't explode, I'd be good. So on the slight downhill of the back portion of the out-and-back, I just gave it all I had left. You could hear me breathing a mile away, and my heart rate was up as high as I know I can get it. So an 8:07 in mile 3 and a little faster for the last 0.1. I finished with a chip time of 26:43.

Even though I'm not where I was in the past, and didn't expect to be, I can't be anything but mega-happy with the result. Thanks to Tim Bergsten for putting on another great event, and thanks to everyone who came out to race and volunteer to make it a great event!