I did it! Didn’t go as well as I was hoping, but I think my hopes were a bit lofty given all that was against me:

1. I haven’t run in two weeks.
1.5. I’ve put on five pounds in that time.
2. I walk with a limp.
3. I was up all night with stomach issues.
4. I had stomach issues this morning.

I was hoping for a sub-1:30, which I’d really be happy with, but after warming up for the most painful half mile in my life, I knew today was simply going to be a struggle to finish.

Regardless, I lined up with the 6:45 group; 10 seconds faster than my pace, which should give me a nice buffer for the tough uphill finishing miles this race offers.

Things went well at the start and through the first few miles. I was ridiculously tight, but seemed to loosen up after 3 or 4 (6:30, 6:35, 6:58, 6:53). Unfortunately, shortly after that, my hip decided it’d start in with the pain (my tightness has been my hamstrings). Around 5 (7:02), I knew I was in trouble, but I went out well and still had about a minute buffer to work with.

By 9 (6:56, 7:10, 7:05, 7:10), the fact that I haven’t been running caught up with me; I was out of gas. I saw Caitlin, showed her my agony, and decided I wasn’t getting a DNF. Even if I trudged along (which I did), I’d finish in a respectable time at this point.

Nothing to note on the final few miles. The times tell the tale; I was gassed and hurting like never before. (7:26, 7:45, 7:52, 7:55)

Final time? 1:33:53 (result will say 1:34:0x because I stopped for 10 seconds to stretch). Officially, a half marathon personal best, but I covered the same distance in 1:33:48 during the Marine Corps Marathon last year.

Am I happy? Partially. Quite pleased with my [insanity?] ability to push through pain. Pleased with what’s technically a best. Unhappy with being hurt. Unhappy with only being 20 seconds faster than last year. Happy to now be taking a couple of months off. And incredibly unhappy that I had “Tonight’s Gonna Be A Good Night” stuck in my head the entire race. Not the whole song, either, but the days of the week part. I went through the days of the week to the tune of the song an easy 150 times. That was more painful than anything today.

My future contains lots of stretching, core work (helps w/ hip injuries and running in general), biking (swimming hurts my hip too, but I hope to get into it sooner rather than later), and maybe even some pool running? Canceling Steamtown was a very good decision… I could hardly hold my goal pace in half the distance Hopefully I’m ready for some smooth sailing [3:10] in January!