The Best of Times and the Worst of Times

Just 7 short days after coming away from Savannah with a shiny new PR, I decided it would be wise to run another 1/2 marathon locally with my brother-in-law.

The results were posted just a little bit ago and it is official.

A new PR! Or maybe we should call it a PW?

Either way, by 53 seconds I was able to take my worst 1/2 time and beat it. How is that even possible?

My worst time ever had been held by my 1st 1/2 ever back in 2007. It was 2:49:05. My time on Saturday was 2:49:58.

It was as painful as it sounds.

This was on a course where I had trained EXCEPT I had not trained on the hilly portion in the middle. My ego was slightly inflated so I figure why not right? Bad idea.

The race started off pretty swell but things went downhill (or shall we say uphill) pretty quickly as soon as I hit mile 6.

As soon as I reached the first hill I literally stopped and laughed. This was not going to be good.

It wasn't. 3 miles of hills. I'm not sure what the actual ascent was but my brother-in-law said it was about 400ft. Those my friends were not hills. They were mountains.

Actually, we were running on the mountain bike trails part of which was gravel. Fun times!

Either way, I finished. It took every fiber of my being not to get on the golf cart I saw at the bottom of the hill at mile 9.

Are there any positives? Sure.

• 
  
  I finished.


• 
  
  It was a beautiful run. The entire course was on the greenway which runs along the river and then up through the hills before returning to the greenway to finish. I'd do the race again just because it was so pretty.


• 
  
  By finishing, I can see that I am stronger than I was 4 years ago. My time was worse but I can tell you right now that back then there would not have been a PR race the week before nor would I have been able to finish this race at all. Progress.

As for the rest of the year? I'll run some on my own to try and complete 500 in 2011 but no more races for me.

My goal for the rest of the year is to start integrating some swimming and other cross training to come away with some new PRs next year :)

Bling

This one can be checked off of my 2011 goals.

As I said in the recent post, I knew I was ready both physically and mentally.

The race truly went well from start to finish.

It was a little chilly at the beginning of the race, but I quickly got warm once they released my corral to start.

I'd decided to follow the 4:45 marathon pace group knowing that I could just stick with them until the half marathon split off at mile 11. This would be about a 2:22 1/2 marathon which I still felt would be stretch.

I was able to hang with them until at least mile 6 that I remember but somewhere after that is when I dropped back. I'm thinking it was just before or after mile 7 because I'd lost them by the time I arrived at mile 8.

Miles 6-9 were the toughest for me for some reason. I'm pretty sure I got distracted looking for Steve and Lauren. They never saw me and I never saw them. It was a really crowded race both on and off the course. I'll save this information for a post about the race itself.

By mile 9 I had regained my focus, had taken a Gu on top of my Honey Stingers and was ready to push to the finish. I remember thinking "only 40 more minutes".

After that the course also got more interesting as we headed towards the finish in Forsyth Park.

Around mile 10, I saw the 5 hour marathon pace group beside me and realized that I needed to pick it up if I was going to beat my goal of coming in under 2:30.

I kept pushing to the finish but those last few miles felt long. It wasn't that I was struggling but I was so ready to be at the finish line to celebrate my hard work and the fact that I knew I had already had a huge PR.

There was one last turn followed by 2 rolling hills and then the finish.

Looking at the clock I was pretty sure I'd just barely snuck in under my goal.

Official time: 2:28:15.

I'd rocked Savannah!

A Ladybug of 13 Months

What a difference a year makes!

Last year, I propped up this tiny 1 month old to get the token Halloween picture.

Her 1st Halloween.

Our 1st Halloween as a family with a child here to raise. License to dress her however we wished before she suddenly becomes old enough to voice her opinion.

She was still so tiny and new. Having to rely on someone else for her every need. Poor kid.

She survived.

Still tiny.

Less new.

Now she can do a lot more for herself.

In the blink of an eye, she can be across the house terrorizing Tonka. Poor dog. He has a new master who happens to only be about 2.5 feet tall and 15 lbs. She yells his name when he isn't meeting her expections. Tooonnnta.

At least, I know what I have to look forward to in 12 years.

The rest of the time they are best buds. Today they even shared the banana I gave her for snack. She handed it to him. He kind of hesitated, looked at me, and snatched that banana before anyone could change their mind.

Smart dog.

Later we went outside to get the token Halloween photo for this year. It may just be our Christmas card.

Happy Halloween!

Training for Savannah. Mission Complete.

With 323.7 miles behind me for the year, I am definitely stronger than I was when I wrote this post. On January 2nd, I did expect to meet those goals, however I have been pleasantly surprised to see what else I have learned along the way.

My last long run before Savannah was yesterday. As I ran, I had many thoughts meandering through my head. After all, I had over 2 hours to think about what I had learned during my time spent training for this race.

The main thing I have learned is that, not only am I stronger now that I was in January, I am also much stronger than I was in 2007 when I ran my first and only 1/2 to date.

I merely survived training and racing that time. This time that has not been the case at all. My runs have been more productive because I understand how my body is going to react most of the time.

Last time, I also trained with a group and truth be told pretty much just did what everyone else did in regards to mileage and fuel.

This time, I trained alone and listened to my body. I took days off or even weeks to let my body recover when needed.

Yesterday, as I pushed through 12 hilly miles I did everything exactly as I plan on doing it in Savannah. I'd examined the course map so I ran with the knowledge that there would be a water station here, a Gu station here, and finally the finish line there.

Mentally and physically I am ready.

Bring on RNR Savannah 2011!

Playing Pretend

Once upon a time, I was able to convince some really powerful people that I am important. They clearly should have been aware of this prior to now, however, they were not.

They are now.

See me?!?

This was one of those "bucket list" experiences. The kind where you may or may not come out in one piece, however, if you do it will be totally worth it in the end.



It was totally worth it!

Luckily, none of these guys ran me over or I might not feel the same.

This is not Johnny Depp. You can return to your regularly scheduled programming now.

This is PeeDee the Pirate.

Purple Haze.

2011 Helmets.

A couple of kids enjoying the game.

This is always one of my favorites sights because hopefully these experiences stick with them as they grow. It is one reason we have already started exposing L to ECU football.

She may not attend college at ECU, but hopefully wherever she goes she will enjoy the experience as I did.

Love this picture.

And this feeling!

Ready to Rumble!

Focused.

It was at this point, when I was standing next to the players on the sideline that I realized many of them are 1o years younger than me.

I'm still young compared to many of my friends and family, so it was a thought provoking moment.

These players and cheerleaders surely have their moments, but the reality is that they are more mature than the average 18 year old college student.

Food for thought as I wandered the sidelines on that dreary fall day.

Can't wait to do it again one day!