Amateur at large: I have so much to talk about!

I think I'll reserve this post to talk about running. I haven't had a running only post in awhile so now seems like the perfect time!

Next weekend is not only my half marathon on Saturday, but I'm also running a 5K on Sunday to benefit the JDRF. This event has been held for the last 3 years in memory of my co-worker and friend Michael Daly, who passed far too young at the age of 34. Mike suffered with diabetes, and this race is a fundraiser to work toward finding a cure for that terrible illness. It has affected my own family as well, and is a cause I hold close. If any of you readers would like to donate, please click here. Or if you live close by, consider coming out next Sunday! It's open to walkers as well.
But back to the half... I'm running it with my friend Katie from Running a Ragnar. 13.1 miles. 2+ hours of running (cause I'm slow). This will be my 4th half, and possibly my last. But then again, I say that every time I run one. So I guess time will tell on that...

I mentioned in a previous post that I did not allow NEARLY enough time to train for this half. It's extra hard and somewhat torturous to perform the abbreviated training plan. BUT, misery does love company. Thankfully, I have a great group of friends to train with. We don't always all make it to every run, but often at least two of can get out there together.

Katie and I are running the Hogsback half on Sept 28th, and Vanessa and Chelsea are running one in Newport on Oct 13, so our mileage doesn't match up perfectly, but we make it work.

Katie and I ran our 9 miler together a few weekends ago. We made a huge mistake in not really planning out a route ahead of time. We decided to run in the local state park, not realizing the full diameter of it is only 3 miles. Both of us feel that running in circles is torture, so we attempted to leave the park and run on local roads, only to discover we were in some kind of basin. Every direction seemed to climb a mountain. We even tried taking some trails, but they were more for walking: very narrow, lots of roots and rocks. Ugh. It was rough. But at least we went through it together! We decided we earned a large and delicious lunch:

Today I was semi dreading my long run. I've been struggling BIG TIME with running. I'm pretty sure it's my lack of healthy eating, not enough sleep, and not enough water intake. But regardless of the reasons, running has been really hard. On top of that, I was planning to run it alone as Katie was out of town, but I posted on FB asking if anyone cared to join me. I was joking, as really, who would want to spend a gorgeous Sunday running TWELVE miles. Especially during football season. But to my surprise, Vanessa said she'd join for most of it. This week was set to be her 10 miler. So we did those together, and then I continued on for my last two.

For the first time in what feels like, well, ever, this run actually felt pretty good. I struggled some at the very end, but not so much that I didn't think I'd make it.

There is nothing fast about my training this time around. My projected finish time for this half is about 2 hours and 15 minutes. While I'm disappointed with my pace, I don't really think it's worth beating up on myself about considering the short time to get ready.

I once read somewhere that if you're still pretty and fresh looking after your run, you're not doing it right. I find this to be quite true. Case in point... see the photos below: