America’s Finest City Half Marathon/Running for Fun

Sooo a couple weeks ago I ran a half marathon. I used to think that half marathons were a BIG DEAL. I remember training for my first one, laying awake at night, worrying I wouldn’t make the distance. Now those days are long gone and I basically view the distance as a long run. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

I suppose I didn’t make a big deal of AFC since I didn’t go into it with a lofty goal of a PR. I wanted to get another half marathon under my belt and keep up my trend of signing up for this local race with Team WODS. (Last year I didn’t start the race due to a foot injury so at least I was injury free and able to run it this year!) Oh, and I wanted to run for FUN.

AFC 2011

It was also supposed to be a race to keep my training up over the summer…that didn’t exactly happen…It was the farthest I had run since my full marathon in April, and my speed work & tempo runs beforehand were nonexistent. My how time flies when you’re vegging out!

Leisurely trail runs w/ time for photo opps!

Jeremy dropped Mike, Nicole, and me off at the bus pickup at 5am, even though he couldn’t run this year due to an injury. I was happy I would have at least 1 person cheering me on up the hill at mile 12!  I wasn’t nervous for this race, and I haven’t felt that way in a while. Again, I was going to run for FUN!

Pre-Race. Look at that view!

Nicole & I decided to start the race together but didn’t anticipate finishing together since we were running by effort (i.e. who wanted to hurt more), and we’ve never finished this race together the 3x we’ve tried. (One day we will!)

1:45? Not today!

This year was no different. We started off with the masses and struggled to break a 9 min/mile in the crowds, raced downhill too fast, and then drifted apart around mile 8.5 on the flats when we each admitted that we were tired of our pace and were just trying to keep up with the other one. Funny how that works!

Fake happiness around mile 7. I thought this was supposed to be fun?

It’s tough for me to justify hurting when I don’t have a particular goal in sight. I just may be too goal-oriented to “run for fun.” Fun to me equals reaching a new milestone or personal best, and I get frustrated with myself when I’m not prepared to do that! (I was definitely not prepared to do that at this race.)

Real happiness because I’m closer to finishing. This is fun.

After a long and slow 13.1 mile journey wondering why I put myself through this, I finished AFC in 1:55:32, much slower than my PR potential. While I’m not dwelling on it, it made me want to get back into training. I don’t like seeing my times going in the opposite direction! Who does?

Finishers waiting for FOOOOOD

My plan now is to see if I get into Boston Marathon 2014! (I am scheduled to register Sept 16 should space still permit!!) If I do, I will start marathon training. If I don’t, I will start marathon training. Moral of the story: I am ready to begin full marathon training again, and that is fun!

Thanks for listening,

Your Type A Running Buddy

What does running for fun mean to you?