Better Judgement

I decided to not compete in a race - the Florida Challenge Half Marathon - for a couple of reasons. First, it's an off-road race, and I would have just been setting myself up for injury. It's REALLY off road - cross country in fact. Second, it rained the night before the race - so it would have been extra hazardous.

So, I did the Bigun Neighborhood Half Mary instead. Only about 250' of elevation with 3 little hills, it was a great course, if you like running mostly on sidewalks. I won't bore everyone with a detailed race report, just make a note that it was an awesome running day for the big guy. It should have been, for Pete's sake - I did squat all week nursing my left hamstring. Something about that hard bike effort on Tuesday laid me up all week. A crappy work schedule had a little to do with it too...

I stopped the Garmin right at 13 miles (yea, I missed the point one...I just wasn't thinking straight!) in 1:59:35 for a 9:10 pace. My last Half Mary was the Brandon Half in December that I did in 2:12 - so I'm pretty psyched about the improvement. Chalk it up to BASE training - that stuff works like a charm. My average HR for this effort was 162 - and I rarely was close to 170 - huge difference in effort from December. I only stopped for water once at a water fountain in a park at about mile 8.5 - a few sips and I was on my way. No gels. No running partners, just me against the clock.

I'm looking forward to the Gasperilla Half now on Feb 28th - I'll be going for an official PR that day - really - finish under a 9 min pace. Lose a little weight (should be down to 240lbs by then) and put in a few good training weeks, buy some new shoes (546 miles on these now - what the hell is my problem?!?!) and get some competition out there and I'll be all over it - 1:57 flat puts me under 9:00/mile. That will be huge for me.