I did it!

On Sunday I ran the Half Marathon in Santa Clarita, finishing with a time of 2:27:20. This was a goal I set out for myself on my 42nd birthday back in April . . . when I couldn't run around the block without stopping. And as great as it was to achieve this goal, I think it was just as amazing to know I was going to make it. I've been on a training program (from Hal Higdon) ever since I started around May 1st, and it was steady progress all the time.

There were times in the middle where I would be happy about my accomplishments, moving from a run/walk beginner's program to a 5K, then a 10K . . . but I would still worry about my ability to run more than twice that distance, the 13.1 miles of a half-marathon. My first 5-mile run was cut short by a minor injury, and when the long runs grew to 8-9-10 miles I had to cut back my midweek shorter runs to give me knees a chance to recover. In fact, two weeks before the half-marathon I really struggled to complete my 9.5-mile training run.

But the following week was notably better, helped by rest during the week, better preparation the night before, and the pressure of the nearing deadline! When I ran 10.5 miles the next weekend and felt good about it, I knew I could finish the half-marathon.

My only complication was one faced by many male runners, the dreaded bloody nipples. Ouch! Actually, they didn't hurt so much as embarrass me. When I saw a photographer or onlookers I tried to hide it with my arms, like you see above. Band-aids didn't work on my training runs, and medical tape didn't work on this final run. Next time I'll have to get even more serious with duct tape, like I read about online... This little problem cropped up even before the halfway point of the race, and I lost 2-3 minutes making a portapotty stop to try to tape up again, without success.

Now the question is: what next? I plan to keep running, but to dial back down the distance so that I don't need to take so much time off to rest. Probably something like 5 miles for my long runs on the weekend, and a couple 2-mile runs during the week.

To that I want to add some upper body strength training, something like the Hundred Pushup Challenge, just spread over 6 months instead of 6 weeks. I haven't looked ahead to other races yet, but Candy has started to enjoy the 5k runs, which I'd gladly do again. I'd also like to try another 10k, which is a good distance for me. It's a definitely challenge, but not one that requires its own training program & schedule, now that I've built up my "endurance base."