So race #2 is in the books.  Beautiful day for a run!  And running on the Cantigny grounds and golf course was awesome!  Being on those grounds reminds me of why I’m doing this and why I’m running for Salute.  There was one vet there with a prosthetic leg.  He didn’t run but did walk the entire course.

They played the national anthem, which I haven’t seen at another race, and you could instantly tell who the veterans were.  Even though their not in service anymore the respect for our flag and country was absolutely apparent.  To them, thank you.

In regards to the run, my time came down a bit to 30:22.  Thought I was going to do even better after the 2 mile mark.  Felt great and not winded at all.  Probably a sign I wasn’t trying hard enough.  So my strategy was to run as hard as I could the last mile.  It started off great because it was slightly down hill.  Then the last half mile killed me!  It was almost completely up hill.  That really slowed me down.

What this race taught me was that I should probably try to get the layout of the course beforehand.  I’m not quite sure what I would have physically done differently but at least I would have mentally been ready for it.

Overall it was a fun run and I’m glad my time came down.  Just have to take a few seconds off every race and by the time the 50 runs are done I’ll be at a more respectable pace.

Next week I’m going to go ahead and do runs on Saturday and Sunday.  It’s going to be interesting to see how my legs handle it.  Saturdays race is called “Breathe Deep Busse Woods” and is a supporting LUNGevity to help people living with lung cancer.  Sunday’s race will be the Turkey Trot in St. Charles, which supports the Northern Illinois Food Bank.

Thanks for reading and please remember I’m doing this to help our veterans.  Please consider contributing to Salute and you can get on my donation page by clicking on THIS.

Thank you very much to those who have already contributed.

Greg