Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

so, no sub 2 this year. :( not sure if it was a lack of reserves after the repeat of the virus on tuesday, or the heat, or the humidity, or a combination. they raised the black flag, which means 'dangerous conditions, be careful'. the heat and humidity didn't really bother me until mile 8, at which point my body was saying 'go sit down and have something to drink - NOW!!!'. i had been stopping for water, and walking through the waterstops, but after mile 8, i really took my time with the water stops. didn't walk otherwise, but after mile 8 i really had to pull back. i left my brother at mile 3 and took off, but he passed me at some point during the last few miles and ended up beating me. d'oh! oh well, now the pressure is off to beat him every year...and i'm proud of him for having such a great race (he PR'ed at 2:04) in such tough conditions. my friend sonja also had a great race, finishing in 1:54 (kelly, i think we've found our runner!!!!). other folks had slower races because of the conditions, and 13 people were hospitalized (one from a heart attack) and twice as many people than normal were seen in the medical tents. really glad i wasn't one of them. i think if i had pushed harder, i might have been. hard to see 10+ min miles after having sub 9 in at least one race this year, but i'm also glad, like at buffalo, that i was able to listen to my body and do my own race.

oh, and what is up with my age group. 19-34????? the woman who won the thing is in my age group. college track stars? come on now - can't the slower mamas and career women have our OWN group please??? :)

other than not getting so sick this month - nothing. well, maybe figure out the shoe thing earlier. i wore my old shoes, and didn't have the hot ball of foot problem, and no hamstring problems, which was fantastic, but i did end up with a blister on one toe, and a blood blister on another. can't wait to start running in my new shoes which i got right before the race. they are SO comphy, and it was really tempting to run in them yesterday.

found pete, who was not in the chute behind me, but was already munching on a bagel! hurrah for pete! he got me a bagel and we hopped into the line for the massage tables. after our massages, we got some ice cream, changed clothes, and then walked over to the buses to get back home. i had a NAP all by myself. slept great. drank some water, had some salmon and fruit salad, and watched 'sideways'. went over to my friend sonja's parent's place for a post race party. had a couple beers (yum!), dinner, hung out with sonja, and then headed home. slept GREAT last night! my milk supply peaked last night, but my body figured things out and this morning i was back to my normal size. glad i wasn't overfull for the race.


being so sick this month and having low reserves compared to normal - and not hitting my training peak prior to the race, also because of being sick during that period of time, heat and humidity, shoes????


i love this race. now i have a new goal for next year of trying, yet again, to break 2:00...and beat my brother again! we made a deal that whoever 'wins' each year, gets to be the first one into the massage tent. i'm a little sad that i didn't meet any of my race goals, other than finishing, but i learned new things just like i did at buffalo, about pacing myself and really paying attention to what my body is telling me. i like to go fast and place and better my times, but i enjoy finishing a race and feeling good doing it even more. anyway, not my best race, but i'm glad i did it.