JANUARY HALF MARATHON

http://www.clearwaterhalf.info/

I wanted to write this while I still had the fresh sting of pain in my legs. Let's just say any worries I had about losing my mental toughness after last weekend's 10K are gone. We (the Dane and I) always treat this half marathon as a catered long training run. We're typically not prepared, ie. no long runs, for it and just want to measure anyway. Unfortunately for us, others are quite prepared for this "race". I use the term "race" losely however, I raced until the last inch of this one. You see, I ran toe to toe, shoulder to shoulder with one of my biggest tri AG competitors Sharon B. for whom I have the utmost respect. We started the race and ended it together and pushed each other the entire way and took no prisoners the whole time. I would not have pushed as hard if it wasn't her on my shoulder but I felt the need to represent, if you will. She is one classy competitor and neither one of us wanted to "win" over the other after the 13.1 miles we covered together but,someone had to outsprint the other and I have clearly lost any footspeed I once had!! The best part is we both had a big smile at the finish and she actually apologized for winning this battle. Class act in my book. The reason I mention mental toughness is that we began the race with a solid 7 minute per mile pace which I, personally, knew I wasn't prepared to handle but was willing to stick with my racemate as long as she was willing. We held this until about mile 11 when the stiff headwind and final bridge became a cruel reality and we both were suffering and slowed. The final stretch was pretty funny because I tried to actually sprint but I am far from the days of 58 second 400meters and it showed. We took one and two in the AG so it's all good. In the end, after talking to her, we both elevated our effort above what we felt was possible on the day and we will both improve for the effort in the long run. So, thanks to Sharon B. for pushing me today. I still believe so greatly in the aerobic training that I'm doing through Markallenonline.com and will continue to swear by it. I ran almost one minute faster than last year with less actual running mileage and ALL of it being aerobic other than two 10K's. Props to all who showed up today and bettered themselves on a tough, windy day. The Dane was the proud winner of his AG.......I'm not worthy! So, will try and recover from this and move on to the next challenge, Chilly Willy Duathlon which is super hard/fun. I hope that everyone gets to challenge their own previously determined barriers, it's painful but well worth it.........