Louisville Half Marathon

Completed my 12th Half-Marathon this morning on a beautiful, cool, sunny day! Both my best friend/training partner Alicia and I were not feeling it as we started the race this morning. She has been sick off and on this week, and I've been in my own funk lately. Barely training (surprise, surprise) for the race didn't help either.

It took me about 2 1/2 to 3 miles to get into a groove, and after that it was an easy pace to the end. About 4 1/2 miles in I could tell that my pinky-toenail was scraping against my fourth toe and knew I was gonna have a bleeder on my hands (or feet) soon. It wasn't long before I felt the sticky substance surround half of my foot and had to muddle through for the tail end of the race.

The route is an out-and-back course, and as we rounded the turn around point I was surprised to see that no mats had been laid out to keep track of runners' time and exclaimed, "We totally could have cheated!" Not that I would have. Even if the powers that be knew nothing of my dishonesty, I couldn't accept the medal, or even claim that I had "finished" the race in good conscious. So, we did an about face and headed back for another 6 miles.

It wasn't long before our lack of training and the prior weeks stressors got the best of us and we began walking for just as long and just as often as we ran. This was quite alright with both of us however, as we were now on the downswing of the race and only wished to finish. Conversations of where to eat after the race and our gastrointestinal problems soon filled the air. By mile 10 we were running from landmark to landmark, and only wished that the race would soon be over - heinies and hamstrings were getting a little tight.

On our last turn, with only .1 mile left to go, Alicia got her second wind and pulled out ahead of me. I tried to ram it into high gear so we could finish together but that didn't quite work and I ended up crossing the finish line probably 5 - 7 seconds behind her. I also like to think that I didn't want to steal her glory, as I've finished first in my fair share of the races we've competed in together and it's only right that I give her her moments....... oh, who am I kidding?! She kicked my ass fair and square! Either way we both finished another race, and both got a pretty sweet medal to hang around our necks. I finished in an unofficial time of 2:43:56 - not a PR by any means, but probably right on par with some others that I've run.

Our next race is the Waverly Hills 6.66 mile trail run on Halloween night. I'm concerned about this race for two reasons: 1 - it doesn't start 'til 8:00 p.m. and we'll be running the course in the dark with only headlamps to guide our way, and 2 - trail runs are a whole other beast! Needless to say, I've asked for a personal day the following morning since I know we won't be pulling into home until close to midnight, and if my 7 mile hiking trip this past weekend is any indication as to how my calves are going to feel, I will be needing all the recovery time I can get!