Yesterday I completed a Half Marathon, that’s 13.1 miles folks.  I will pause for effect.  


I haven’t run a race since Elliott was just a few months old and I really walked most of it being just a few months post surgery. 


In my former life I was a frequent runner and racer, and I posted a while ago about the races that I remember running.  I was never fast, but I do have endurance.  It took me 6 hours and 1 minute to complete my only marathon.  


This race was different though than all my other races.  The main difference was that I signed up for the race and the training alone.  I was lucky enough to run with some great women throughout the training period, but the decision to run and train was mine alone.  I also vowed from the first long weekend run that I would not allow myself to quit.


You see, I have a habit of letting myself fail.  If I find something to be difficult I judge whether I will be able to complete the task.  If there is a possibility that I may fail, then I will rationalize reasons not to try as hard as I could.  Then, I often end up giving up and failing at the task.  Therefore sabotaging my chances at success, even if they may have been slim to begin with.


I didn’t do that to myself this time.  I tried as hard as I could throughout the season.  I accepted my defeats as they came (and they came on a 12 mile training run…ouch), and I pushed myself when I could.  The result was awesome.  I finished the half with a personal best.  My watch time was 2 hours 38 minutes (had to stop it for a potty break hence the 3 minute variance from the tag time).  The official results are here:

It clearly isn’t a great time compared to others in my age group (591 out of 768 finishers), but it a great time for me as a runner.  And I ran 95% of the course, only stopping to catch my breath 3 times after I ran 10 straight miles.  My previous race times were around 3 hours, so my pace has improved greatly as well.  I feel proud of myself for giving it my all, and that is all that counts in my race book.