Half Marathon Report

This weekend Meg and I, as well as 10 others from our running club at church ran in the Soaring Wings Half Marathon.  This was the first major step towards our goal of running the St. Jude's Marathon in Memphis during December. So here's the damage:
1. I hadn't run consistently for 4 weeks.  My last run before the race was a 15 mile run 2 weeks prior to the race.  I ran the 15 in 2:17, so I felt confident I would break 2 hours on race.  The only problem was I also developed an infection in my right hip, with a sore that is still open.
2. I went out too quickly.  Instead of being realistic about my training (especially over the the last 3 weeks) I went out thinking I could stay at my 9 minute pace with no problems.  What actually happen was I went out at  7:30 pace during the first two miles, leading me to puke twice during miles 4-6 while I pushed out an 11 minute pace during those 3 miles.  I quickly watched the 9:00 pace leader pass me by as I trudged up one of the many hills.
3. I finished the day 46 seconds behind my amazing wife who celebrated her 30th birthday on race day.
4. I learned to stick with my training, not skip the workouts, do the work, trust the plan.

I can't say enough good things about this race.  First, it was very well organized. The aid  stations were at even intervals that made it easy to know when you had one coming up. The city of Conway obviously cares about this event.  There were people everywhere! We ran through a couple of neighbors that had people lining the streets with signs, hands out to give passing runners high-fives and cheers all around.  My favorite was the guy at the top of the hill at mile 12 that keep yelling your name, encouraging you not to give up as you came to the crest this monster hill.  But the best part was the fact that kids from the ranch were there to pass out the medals at the finish line.  Great touch!  Without I doubt, we plan to be running this race again next year!
Finally, let me encourage you to check out Soaring Wings Ranch and read about their mission to help children.