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... and unlike Britney it didn't involve shaving my head but shaving some time off my personal best for a half marathon. I have gone from 2:58 (Virginia Beach) to 2:23 (Philadelphia) to 2:20. Whoo hoo! It was a great day -- good course, lots of friends and family to cheer me on, cool weather (though I couldn't done without the soaking at about 6:15 before the race start) and a good run. The marathon course ran through all four quadrants of DC and the half marathoners hit three of the four quadrants. I believe we were a bit a sight to behold on Minnesota Ave SE for miles 10-11as I am not sure the neighbors quite understood why we were running. The small crowd was fun -- Minnesota Ave has some rolling hills -- there were some pre-teen girls telling us "no walking up the hill!" which I thought was sweet. I followed their "instructions", ran a piece of mile 11 with Coach John and trudged on to East Capitol Street to run back to RFK. Coach Anita was there for the last tenth of a mile (up another darn hill) lightly jogging beside me and goading me... you can't pass me ... to which I am thinking "you had hip surgery three weeks ago - damn straight I better pass you!" and I chugged on in to the finish line. A post run omelet at the Royal Restaurant and a chocolate donut... it doesn't get any better than this!
Hmm, maybe a subject line about running away from the altar isn't the best choice?!? If there is a country song about everything I can't think of the one that says I am ready to pound my joints for 13.1 miles through the streets of Washington DC because I think it's a fun challenge.
It has been an eventful season... I trained for most of February on my own, endured cold mornings, icy sidewalks and a nose that wanted to run too. HA. We discovered the second most popular thing at water stops was the box of tissues!
Saturday marks 1/2 marathon number 3. The first time I was worried about finishing, the second time about running alone, and this time, well I am worried that I am not worried. (aka overconfidence). Every time gets easier but because it's me the worrying never stops. I have a time goal in mind, but all I will say here is that I'd like for it to be the same as Philly (2:23). Wish me luck!
Yesterday I found myself in a nice sweet spot as a runner... I ran the St Patrick's Day 8K -- as I am tapering for National 1/2 Marathon I told myself I'd run to put the miles on my legs, not for time. I even had a running partner with a slightly shorter stride and some lingering knee problems to try to take it easy. And all of you who know me well are shaking your heads and saying "Yeah right Kate..."
And you would be correct -- I went out and found myself a new personal best at 8K - I shaved a minute off my splits from the Fair Lakes 8K back in September 2006 and felt great afterwards. I did not however beat his honor Mayor Adrian Fenty. The new mayor of DC is a force to be reckoned with on the race course -- Fenty ran 6:47 splits and finished 9th in his age bracket. Not too shabby...
A fellow runner from Fall season mailed me this article about running and writing. As a tardy blogger I thought it was kind of fun.
The link between Running and Writing
