Todays race felt kind of like a car accident where you walk away saying "well that sucks but it could have been worse and at least nobody got hurt." Not a great race for me but truthfully I ran about what I expected and not every race can be great. Splits: 5:59, 6:09, 6:01, 5:58, 6:03, 6:33, 6:31, 6:35, 6:09, 6:27, 6:18, 6:45 (wow really?), 6:36, 6:17 (1:34). Nice ride up to the start with Julie & Mel (thanks for the ride ladies). Short warmup and we were off. In hindsight I probably went out way too fast, but I don't regret it at all. It was fun running with the lead pack (I think I even took the lead for like 2.5 seconds at one point...ha!) I realized by mi 4 I needed to back off the pace and I listened to my body and did. Maybe the damage had already been done... I dont really know. I felt like I was fading during the hills 6-9 but I wasn't as bad as I thought.... Mentally I got discouraged which is too bad because I really wasn't running as badly as I was leading myself to believe. Anyway the last 3 miles kind of chewed me up and spit me out. It felt more like the end of marathon than just a half. My heart felt in it and I did my best to hold it together but my legs just were not responding. I was fairly close to Emily and would try to surge but just did not have anything left in the tank. Picked it up as best I could and was happy to see my poor parents out in the rain cheering at the finish. I love that they are always proud of my no matter what. Silver lining.....there is lots of it. 1. My speed is there, I proved that in the first 5 miles. It is a lack of distance/threshold miles that held me back today. 2. My feet did not hold me back too bad today. It was my quads & hamstrings - this is good, I was not prepared for the hills. This I can work with and train around and improve. 3. Running with the lead ladies those first 4 miles was very cool. They are all great runners but even better people. I have the utmost respect for all 5 of them. 4. Lots of familiar faces out on the course cheering despite the terrible weather. Scott, Brandon, my friend Brian, my parents, Rachel cheering for me as we crossed paths with the marathon. I'm sure there were others but my memory is toast. Most notably thanks to James for pushing me & listening to my out of control breathing those final miles. I wore my Boston 2012 shirt today (I wanted to rip it off after 1 mi - racing in long sleeves is totally awkward) but it served as a constant reminder to just be grateful for the ability to run. We have good races and we have not so great races but ultimately I am reminded that the running community is great and I am so fortunate for the many lessons running continues to teach me along the way. | 