You win some... You lose some...

So, the big day has come and gone.  Did I make my goal? Well, let's just say that I am happy with my results. My goal was 2 hours 24 minutes.... which I was basing off of an 11:00 minute mile. My average over the Half-Marathon was 11:05/mile or 2 hours 25 minutes and 7 seconds total.

I could be mad because, really - just  5 seconds a mile faster? However, I am ecstatic that my time was so close to my goal. Percentage wise I was only 0.75% slower that I wanted to be. That tells me it could have gone either way.

So how was the weather and course? The weather was as good as it is going to get for a November race. The course is nice and flat and there are a good number of turns at the beginning. Then the long stretches seem to get longer. Once you turn onto Meridian you know your headed back to city center and you feel as if your never going to get there because it is a few mile stretch. It plays with your mind. It is also the windiest part of the run. It almost feels like Chicago. Can I just say, I love Indianapolis? The city was great, the organizers at IMM were great, and the local people were tolerant of the mess of the city us runners made.

I had some really good company running with me this year (and if your reading this, thank you!). We have been encouraging each other all summer long. That's what family is for though, right?

Here we are at the finish:

She finished about 3 minutes ahead of me, and it all happened in the last 3-4 miles. Sigh.

So why am I satisfied with any of this? When running with my phone and using the GPS to track distance and speed, it is not always so accurate. I had been running with my iPhone at about an 10:50 minute mile. When we ran, for the the 10 miles, we averaged 10:24 minute mile on my phone. That is the furthest I have ever run at the pace, even though we were probably around 9.6 actual miles.

Yes, my lungs started hurting from breathing, but just enough to know I was at max pace (and that was at about mile 3 - mentally I was worried). I so wish I could have finished at that pace and crossed closer to the same time. Oh-well, I'll be happy for my PR.

The other win is that it seems to be rubbing off a little on some other family members. I sure hope they have as much fun I as do taking myself to the extremities of my physical capabilities. In the future we just may have some more runners with us on the course.

So now that the challenge is over, what next?

If there is no goal, no next race - is there really any reason to run? The whole point of "running the race" is so that you can tell how much you've improved or how well practice has paid off. Otherwise it is too easy to put off and say you will exercise another day or next week.

On that note we are already planning a rematch next year. On a different course and 25K in distance. It's only 2.4 miles further than a half, right? Will I also run the IMM half next year? Probably. I'll want to see how much I can shave off my time. I would like to see my time get under 2:18 for a half, then I'll start working on a marathon in under 5 hours.

So where is this loss that I was talking about? First of all. It was 14 pounds of pure fat. Yes, I can tell. I was feeling blimpish and that feeling has setting down to just plain fat. Much improved with plenty of room to go. The second is that it was the Michigan / Michigan State football game weekend and somehow the Spartans got lucky. Ok, so the Spartans definitely have the skill... I was just hoping the Wolverines would have a win.

Signing Off. Otto.