It's been 5 months or so since I've posted anything here, so there is a little ground to cover. Following my Frederick Half Marathon in May, I decided to back off on my miles a little bit. I did enough to stay in shape, but didn't really exert too much effort into getting faster or running farther. I finished out May with some easy miles, and kind of took it easy in June and July as well. It's always a busy time in the summer anyway, so just staying in shape was my goal, and I was able to do that. Once August rolled around I really started to build some miles and enjoy some longer runs. That carried right over into September. I ran a nice 5K race, the SCI-FI 5K, in early September and finished with a time I was pretty happy with. Following that I just continued to build my miles in anticipation of the Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon on October 6th. I built my miles up, was getting comfortable with my pace and really feeling good about improving on a race that I absolutely bombed on the year before. I was on vacation the whole week leading up to the race, continued to train and work hard, and felt great come race day. I was running a great pace, well on my way to a PR right from the start. The temperature kept rising and rising into the 80's and probably close to 90, but I just kept on pushing. I was running with the pace group I wanted to run with and was feeling pretty good. By the time we got to the 8 mile mark, I could feel myself overheating and not feeling the greatest. I pressed on, but at a bit of a slower pace, but still in sight of the pace group I was hoping to stay with. By mile 9 it was apparent that I wasn't going to PR that day, cramps started to kick in and a blister was forming on the ball of my foot. At mile 10 I gave in and backed it down to a crawl mixed in with trying to pick things up a bit. I shed my shirt, stopped for extra water, and tried to press on. I ended up with my worst half marathon in recent memory on a day I thought a PR was within reach. I finished, ran a good 8-10 miles, and learned some lessons I guess. The only saving grace was I knew I was getting another chance in 2 weeks, and I was going to make the most of it. The high note of this whole day was watching my 4 year old run her 1K race!
The next 2 weeks leading up to the Gettysburg Blue Gray Half Marathon were a bit mixed for me. I ran twice with the Gettysburg Beer Runners, pushing myself pretty hard through both runs of just over 4 miles. I also did a few other 3 mile runs, pushing the pace, but no distance running. By the time the race finally rolled around, I had fresh legs and a clear mind. The temperatures were roughly 40 degrees cooler than 2 weeks prior, and I was grateful for that. No corral starts for this race, just one big mass. I went pretty far back, mostly because I waited too long to get in line. Once the musket went off, I found myself stuck, trying to weave in and out, running in the grass on the side of the road, and just trying to get to an open area at a pace I wanted to run at. It probably took until the middle of the second mile to get there, but that may have been a blessing. It definitely kept me from going out too fast, and let me settle into a pace I really wanted. By mile 4 I was feeling pretty good, and when I hit the halfway point faster than goal pace, I felt I was in pretty good shape for a good time. The hills started to get a little steeper by mile 8, and the big hill that came at mile 10 or so took a little bit out of me. Once I got to mile 12 and checked with another runner about where we were time wise, I got a pretty good feeling. I could lumber in and have the finishing time I wanted. It was my fastest half marathon in recent memory, my first one in my home state, and a wonderful feeling seeing a bunch of fellow runners from my area at the finish line celebration. A great day all around, almost 15 minutes better than the race 2 weeks prior!
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