Better Late than Never

My blog. My poor blog. I have been pulled in a million different directions and I keep meaning to blog. Yet it seems to be the first thing to go. But there are so many things I want to share with you. So many good things.

At the top of this blog I have a quote from former NBA player A.C. Green, "Tough times don't last but tough people do". I posted that so long ago when times were tough. When I couldn't get my running game together. I was drowning and was desperate for a life preserver.

Training has still been going well - and I've been running and I've been happy. At the beginning of the month I ran a 1/2 marathon. The Orange Blossom 1/2 Marathon. This is the 2nd running of this race. The first year (2008) the course was 1/2 mile too long. I was confident that the distance had been corrected.

We started in a different spot and there were changes to the course - this year it was spot on.

The day before the race, I talked to my coach. He helped me put together a strategy for success. Earlier in the week he said 2:10 shouldn't be a problem. 2:10? Really? My last 1/2 in December was 2:17. Do you think? Really? I reminded myself that training has been going well, remember. splits had been consistently well under 10 minute miles. We continued to talk about the race plan and I realized we were flirting with PR territory. My PR of 2:08:43 from December 2006. The PR I thought I would never even come close to.

The weather man said we could expect rain on Sunday. Oh no! Not rain. But then the forecast changed that the rain would come later in the day. Whew!

The course ran along Lake Dora and the wind was tough. Despite the wind I was feeling good. I was feeling really good. And I was moving right along. I was passing people, not being passed by many and I was cruising right along.

I was keeping an eye on my pace. The plan was to work toward the last few miles being in the 9:40s - I think - geeze I need to write race reports while I still remember the details...

Mile 4 was 9:41. Was I going too fast? Was I going to crash and burn later? I didn't know, but I knew I was feeling good. Mile 8 was 9:19, Ummmmmm. Nothing changed. I was still feeling good and I was moving down the road. Quickly.

I had one eye on my Garmin and as I battled the wind I continued to just go. Mile 11: 9:30, Mile 12: 9:21, Mile 13: 9:13 so much for 9:40s. :-)

My time: 2:06:11

A new PR by 2:32. WOW! It was such a happy day for me. I proved to myself that hard work and consistency do pay off.

Next up for me: Earth Day 12K