Foot Traffic Flat Half - RunHalf Marathon

Well, I knew going into this that it would be tough. I hadn't done any runs longer than 7 miles, and was only talked into doing the event about two weeks earlier by two friends who were planning to walk it. I knew that I didn't want to walk the half, so I made a plan to do a Galloway run: walk at 10:1 minutes for as long as I could, and then to walk anything that I had left when I couldn't run anymore. I hoped to get as close to completing the full half before walking.

We got to the event site a little late, and by the time I was out of the portapotty my friends were off and running. I kept an eye on my heart rate monitor and pace and tried to hang back. I felt pretty comfortable those first few miles, but had to remind myself that I was a long way from done.

My pace managed to stay pretty consistent. I kept going with the run/ walk plan, and it seemed to give me both a physical and psychological break by knowing that I only ever had a few more minutes to run before I could walk. Eventually I hit seven miles and realized that I was now running farther than I had in years. I just kept trying to go at my steady pace and stay focused on the end of the race.

By the time I hit 10 miles, my knees and my back were aching quite a bit. And it was hot. I never train in the heat (and I probably will need to start doing that), and I was going further than I ever had run before. I thought about stopping to walk, but then realized that it would just take me longer to get to the end. So I decided to keep going. I swear sometimes it seemed like all I was hanging onto was my next one minute long walk break, but that was all it took for me to finish.

By the time I finished, I felt like I could have gone further. Granted I did not go fast. But (for me at least), I went far.

Other than train for the event? Nothing. I think that I handled it the best that I could given my fitness level. I had fun and am totally proud of what I accomplished. Next half, I will actually train for it, and who knows what will happen.

Walked around a little bit and ate strawberry short cake. Spent the next week hobbling around the house.


Run fitness. Not having done a run longer than 7 miles prior to the event. Not having trained in the heat.


It was my first half marathon, but I have to say that the strawberry shortcakes were the best. The only downside to the race (aside from my fitness level) was getting to the event. There is only one bridge onto the island, and there was a line of cars several miles deep. We didn't get to the start line until about 10 minutes after the event started. Some people didn't get to the start until an hour after it started.