False Start / Fresh Start

False start! Number 34! 5 yard penalty! Repeat second down!

That is how my supposed training for the Brooksie Way Half Marathon is going. I'm supposed to be a couple weeks into "real" training for the race, which at the end of September, and I thought I had started, only to prove myself wrong.

This is what my running (miles per week) has looked like the past month:

 

Now 16 or 17 miles a week isn't any great amount for me (I'd like to run 20 - 25), but 3 and 6 miles a week is not nearly enough to do anything. There are many reasons for my lack of running, including a vacation, the heat and illness among other items, but I have been so good at mitigating reasons (or excuses) all year that I'm disappointed in my recent activities.

My blogging is also way down (oh the horror!). I don't even think I posted about a race I did on the 4th of July, the Carmel Freedom Fest 4.5 mile. We went to this race because we were in Indiana at the time, I wanted to race, and I had the opportunity to see an old friend, who I have found out also runs.

So... We awoke at the "butt crack of dawn", hustled the kids into the car, and made an almost 2 hour trek to Carmel, IN from where we were at. Luckily, we found my friend, Jeff and his "new" wife of 13 years just as we pulled in. We registered, caught up a bit and got ready to go. Jeff and I decided to run together to start, as we wanted to maintain the same approximate pace.

Even with my lack of recent running, I was feeling pretty good and going about as fast as I wanted. About halfway through the race, the heat really started to hit me. My legs felt good, I was breathing fine, I just noticed I was slowing a bit and encouraged Jeff to go on without me. It was over 80 F,  and climbing at 8am with not a cloud in the sky - I'm just not accustomed to running in that for a race.

I found this LOUD American Flag shirt (it was polyester) at Wal-Mart, the day before the race.

I was able to at least keep him in sight for the rest of the race and, considering the conditions and my lack of "readiness", I did OK. Since it was a weird distance, it was automatically a PR! :)

Lil' C walked the 1.5 mile walk / run (Coach Daddy was cool with that - it was too hot) and J-Man ran the kids sprint. He experienced his first race defeat in three tries, but was still glad he ran. (We need to work on his "run like you're frightened by zombies" form, but there's plenty of time for that).

As Jeff has run in several marathons, I asked him about his race plans. While talking running, he mentioned that he was planning to run the Detroit Marathon next year. It was then that I made my first commitment towards a marathon, as I too will now plan to run Detroit in '13! (No setting time goals, I just want to finish the first one, but I may have alluded to the goal to beat Jared from Subway's time in his marathon by an hour).

I have a group run with my Brooksie Way Half Marathon Team Saturday morning, which I'm really looking forward to. I'm hoping that this will be the real start of my training and that I will get back on a schedule. Not only because I want to hit a "time", but because I miss running regularly. Every time I'm "away", I am convinced again that running is good for my body, mind and spirit.