Smokin!

I totally smoked the half-marathon this morning! The weather was very cool, probably in the low 40's, and I was feeling good, so I went for it. When I crossed the finish line the clock read 1:49:30ish, so given the couple of minutes it took to cross the start line I figure my chip time was about 1:48. Yes, I felt extra awesome after that. That calculates to about 8:20 or so per mile. I know I didn't win anything or beat a hated rival or anything else that sports movies are made of, but I guess this means I'm no longer the slowest person in the world.

I carried my iPod with me to at least keep track of time without the headphones, but it slipped out of its case in my pocket and did the "I need to be rebooted thing." I didn't mess with it during the race and the run wasn't recorded, which is a bummer because I'd like to see my split times.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: hill training pays off. Early in the race a couple of big hills slow the crowd, and I was passing them like crazy. I kept checking myself to make sure I was running within my limits, and never reached a point where I felt like I was running too fast. Could I keep up that pace for twice the distance? It seems more a possibility after this than ever before. Maybe someday I can actually qualify to run Boston. It was a great running day, but after this it's back to the training for November's marathon.