The run, of course, was a bit interesting, given my previous confession. i ran this race last year, so I knew exactly what to expect, but haven't trained on this course since last race, either. I did wise up and brought an Ipod with me this time-AH! bliss! Makes the time go by SO.MUCH.FASTER. As soon as the gun went off, I was grinning from ear to ear, actually looking forward to the run. That lasted two miles :)

It was 27 degrees when we started, and I had three layers on and should have had one layer less. I wore my UnderArmour Cold Gear tights (a wonderful invention), the same Cold Gear mock turtleneck, a fleecy and a windbreaker, a hat and gloves. Not too much, right? Well, the gloves came off at the end of the first mile, and i was hot the rest of the run. Note to self-less layers next time if it's 27 degrees or warmer!

So, by mile 3 i was getting a bit tired, more tired by mile 4. I kept telling myself that after 5 miles it gets easier-memories from last year that at the time, I started attributing to craziness, as at 5 miles, I just wanted to go home :) I tried to stay positive and not to think that I still have E.I.G.H.T. more miles to go before the "great training run" is over...

The course has a ton of hills, fast ones, big ones, little ones, you name it, they got it. I really like that, actually-the hills break up the monotony quite nicely.. i took full advantage of the downhill and ran those at 7-7.6 mph-where as my flat segments speed was about 5.6 mph...

I did the run with the walk breaks, which, of course, how I run all my races or training runs. I started out doing 3/1 and was going to increase the running intervals, but at mile 5, I figured the 3-4/1 was working nicely, i was keeping a good 10:20-10:30 pace, so I should just stick to it, so i did. The last two miles my legs were just done, so I told myself I could do 2/1, but I did push myself to 3/1 every time.

At 9.5 miles we had a wicked LOOOOONG hill-it took me 2.5 minutes of running and 2 minutes of walking to climb it, my legs were not happy campers by then. I was really, really happy to be on the home stretch. I always just give what I have left the last 50-100 yards and gun it-I raced down the finish chute and passed some guy at the very end-I heard him go, "Whaaaaaa?" that felt good!

I believe that my last year best time for a Half-marathon was right around 2:27, so really, as tentative as this race was, to finish only a minute slower is good. I know I'm not fast, but I run, and to me, that's what matters right now. Now, I will focus on an actual training plan, so I hope the next half-mary is a few minutes faster :)

Ahem...train.

Warm-down? hmmmm wobble to the car and drive home after scarfing down a pretzel.


lack of training.


I love this race! it's one of my favorites and I plan to run it every year-it's a great challenge and a nice way to open a season!!