My two readers know all too well that for several months I’ve been training for the Brooksie Way Half Marathon — my first race. The race was Sunday, Oct. 5, 2008, and after a few days of recovery I can finally get around to blogging about the finish. Here’s how I did.

• Chip time: 1:40:46
• Clock time: 1:41:01
• Overall finish: 233rd out of 2,337
• Finish by gender: 208th out of 1,155
• Finish by division (men, 35-39): 43rd out of 197
• Pace: about 7:41 per mile

My first reaction: I finished much better than I imagined I would. My second reaction: I’ll be running more races.

On the first point, I surprised myself. During all the training I did my pace was about 8:30. That pace significantly improved during the race, I presume due to adrenaline, the pace of the crowd and the fact that people lined the race route cheering on the runners. I had hoped to finish in under two hours, with 1:50 being the “wouldn’t-it-be-cool-if” goal. Finishing in 1:41 was icing.

On the second point, a marathon is the next obvious target. The Martian Marathon, which runs through Dearborn on April 4, 2009, might be it. That may prove too soon, given that it’s just six months away, and most of that time falls into the worst part of the year to train outside. On the other hand, the Detroit Free Press Marathon in October 2009 seems a little far out. Another option is the Bayshore Marathon up in Traverse City, on May 23, but I’d have to travel for that one. I have time to think: I’m taking the next two or three weeks off from running (at least any long distance).

In the meantime, I plan to run vicariously through reading A Race Like No Other, Liz Robbins’ account of the New York City Marathon. She writes about sports for the New York Times.

Many thanks to Mrs. Blocletters for her support, and also to the folks who’ve given me attaboys over the last few days on Facebook and in person.

P.S.: I wish I had found this article before the race. I guess I had to learn to check out the course prior to running a race. I had no idea that the Brooksie was half uphill and half downhill. But, that just means my time will be better when I get to a flatter course.

I spaced on posting last week’s total, and I’m calling this week done, so I thought I’d just combine the weeks.

• Sunday, Sept. 21, 7 miles
• Wednesday, Sept. 24, 9 miles

Weekly total: 16 miles

• Monday, Sept. 29, 9 miles
• Thursday, Oct. 2, 2 miles

Weekly total: 11 miles. I made this week a light week to give myself a chance to recover and build my strength back up for Sunday’s race. On Monday’s 9-miler, I added a pulled something-or-other behind my right knee to the insistent pain on the front and side of that knee. Since then, I’ve been alternating stretches with slathering my knee in Tiger Balm (truly a miracle product).

I added a little weight training to today’s light 2-miler at the YMCA, working through my irrational fear of those imposing-looking machines. Nothing too strenuous, but it’s a start, and something I can continue to work on after the race.