There will be no pictures in this post, which I know makes for a less appealing read. Shawn didn't take any pictures, and the ones that were taken by the photographers were not particularly attractive, so not worth the $19.95 in my book. Aside from the pictures, here is the story of my recent half marathon:
Last Sunday, I completed my second half-marathon. I participated in a similar event last year, which I believe followed the same course. I have been training for the half marathon for the past few months, and except for a bit of travel and a bout of illness, I was pretty consistent in my methods. Mondays were mid-distance runs, Tuesdays were sprints or hills, Thursday was some version of yoga or stretching and Fridays were my long-distance runs. I enjoyed the training....most of the time. Sometimes, I wanted to sleep in, or take a cycling class. Overall, however, I think it paid off.
On Sunday, I was up at 6:15 a.m. getting ready to go. By 7:30 a.m., I was at the race start. It was supposed to be a clear day, without much wind. There still wasn't a ton of sun at 7:30 a.m., but I had my running sunglasses on just in case. I started out around the 8:30 pace group, although I never did find the pacer. I didn't wear a watch, and no one provided splits, but I had a goal time of about an 8:30/mile pace. Last year, I ran the race in 1:55, which was just more than an 8:50 pace. Without information on timing to spur me on, I tried to just pace myself and keep moving. I was strong until about mile six, and by mile nine I really had to start using the mantra of "just keep moving." The last few miles were the toughest. The course had a lot of hills, with some major ones coming up at the end of every mile, and the end of the course. I wish I could say that when I hit mile 12, I had a surge of energy, but no. I was dead tired, but just kept moving and eventually the finish was in sight. I did pick it up for the last 200 yards or so, but that was only because I could only see half the race clock and wanted to be as fast as I could (especially, I told myself, if this was the last half marathon I ever do--I frequently told myself it might be my last during the race).
The race clock said 1:52 or so when I went through. When the results were posted, my chip time was 1:51:27, which gave me an 8:30 pace. Success! I was so excited to have met my goal. I felt much better this time around than when I completed the half marathon last year, and I even had energy throughout the day after the race, although my quads were quite sore from all the hills.
I don't know if I will do another half marathon. I think I preferred the sprint triathlon. No matter what event I decide to train for next though, I am enjoying the downtime right now. I went for a run today, and I didn't wear a heart rate monitor, GPS, or even a watch. I just ran until I reached a point I wanted to turn around, enjoying the crunch of the fall leaves under my feet, the big blue sky overhead, and the music on my iPod. Sometimes, it's nice not to be training.
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