Wow, did I ever get behind on this....

So, it's been almost 3 weeks since I updated. Oops. I've been busy, but I've also been running!

I returned to speed training once a couple of weeks ago. It was sort of embarrassing how slow I was, but still good to be back. The next two weeks were rained out though. Weather for Wednesday looks clear so far, so I'll probably go back then for 200 m repeats. (Hey, I'll take anything that's not mile repeats.)

Otherwise, I'm back into my pattern of 5K Monday, speedwork Wednesday, 5K Friday, and long run Saturday. So far I've only upped my long run to 5.5 miles, but I'm increasing by about a half mile a week from now until the Hot Chocolate 15K on November 1.

I'm running pain-free these days, and I've been able to complete a couple of 5Ks in under 30 minutes. I haven't done that in almost 6 months, so I'm happy.

Just a little push...

I went for a 5K this afternoon, and pushed my pace a little for the first time in quite a while. I was able to finish a 5K at a consistent 10:20 pace. Not exactly a PR, but faster than I have run in quite some time, so I'm happy with it.

A couple of twinges in my shins, but nothing bad. Still, I'm longing for the day I run completely pain-free.

Coming off the high.

Well, it's been a week since the race now. I didn't run for four days after the race. I had several reasons for this: I was sore, I was still cautious about my injuries, and I was on vacation. I did go for a 4-mile run with my mom on Thursday, and that went reasonably well, though I wasn't pushing at all. I went for a 5K today, and actually had to walk a little ways, but I'm choosing to blame that on the heat.

In the interest of remaining injury free for the rest of the season, I am going to take it very easy for a while. This week, I'm planning to run Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, with each of those just being 5Ks except for Wednesday, when I hope to go back to speed work. I plan to just take each week as it comes and not try to start long runs again until September. I'll gradually work my way up again starting in September, with my new goal being to finish the Hot Chocolate 15K on November 1 without walking.

In the interest of savoring my half-marathon finish just a little bit longer, here are a few memorable things from the race:

1. Twice along the route, I saw a man with a sign that said, "Mortuary ahead. Look alive." It made me laugh both times.

2. Somewhere between the 10 and 11 mile markers, a woman just ahead of me yelled, "11!! Where are you 11?!" I must admit I was feeling the same way at that point.

3. 2.2 mile from the finish, there were two girls standing on the sideline chanting, "Two point two to beer! Two point two to beer!" Classic.

4. Somewhere around mile 4, a girl on the sideline yelled out to one of the runners, "Yay! You're still running!"

I'll update if I remember any more.

Success!!!

Well, I did it. I finished my half marathon this morning, and it was AWESOME. My official time was 2:30:54, only 54 seconds slower than my original, pre-injury goal. That's pretty darn amazing seeing as even earlier this week, I was considering sitting it out.

I can't say that I felt as good through this race as I did during the Soldier Field 10. I didn't have that "I could run forever" feeling that I did then. I took 2 five-minute walk breaks and a couple of other shorter walk breaks, but I ran almost the whole way. I was tired at the end, but still had a bit in me to sprint for the finish, and that felt good. Besides, there's a different kind of satisfaction in finishing something that was hard. I'm really proud of what I did today.

Only some minor pains along the way, and only very minor pains now, which is also a very good thing.

During my injury struggles, I came to accept that perhaps my body just isn't built for distance running. So, this may be the only half marathon I ever run. But even if it is, I don't care. Because today, I totally rocked the Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon.

Soldier Field results!

So, remember how I was SO excited about my Soldier Field finish, and then my chip didn't work? And remember how I sent an inquiry and then never spoke of it again? Well, that's because I never heard anything back.

But on a whim today, I went on athlinks.com to look at my race results, and the Soldier Field time was there! They put me on the finisher's list with a time of 1:50:27, which was my gun time. So, that put me at an 11:02 pace, two seconds higher than my original goal! But that's ok, because I know it took me at least 10 minutes to cross the start line. I suppose using my gun time was the best they could fairly do. I'm just so happy to have a time at all!

Haven't tried to walk much yet today, so I'm not sure how my legs are doing.

I looked at the "spectators guide" for the race tomorrow, at it says my corral will not cross the start line until almost 7am. Boooo.

But still, 24 hours from now I'll be an hour into the race.