Run the Reagan - February Half

Overall, my February Half Marathon 'Run the Reagan' in Atlanta, GA went well!!  This was a small race, so there aren't many photos of me, I apologize for not having many photos to put on this blog entry.

As many of you know, I was concerned about the elevation profiles and I had reason to be worried.  I went into this race thinking that I would look at it as two races: the first 9 miles and then the last 4 miles.  And I think this was a good tactic overall.  One thing I had a hard time with was settling on a goal for this race.  I wavered between a few....
1) Run all the hills no matter what and walk some in between if needed
2) Run the entire time
3) Just do better than my previous race in Auburn

I think the fact that I hadn't settled on a goal really messed with my head.  But by mile 10, I had run all the hills and had run the entire time and was actually on my way to a personal record!!  Not too shabby!  But then the uphill portion of the race descended upon me with a thud and my goals went out the window.  So, the question is... Did I make those hills my bitch?  Well, yes and no.  The rolling hills that had killed me in Auburn were easy during this race but the two long uphills for all of miles 10-12.5 really took it out of me.  I had to walk up a portion of them both.  And then I was just plain tired and had to walk/run.  So, there goes both goals #1 and #2.  And I went ahead and pushed for #3, which was easily accomplished!  Yea!!

I'm not a big fan of sharing my finishing time because of the judgement that surrounds it.  I remember reading in a magazine about Katie Holmes running a marathon and her time was pretty slow.  And I judged her.  Sure, she's richer, prettier, skinnier and married to Maverick, but at least I'm faster (not by much, but still...)!!  And then I remembered that anyone running a marathon is amazing.  But I still judged her pretty harshly.  So, out of fear of folks judging me, you'll notice that I don't talk about my times much. 

Honestly, I'm not a time person.  I'm not ruled by the clock.  I'm not ruled by a pace.  I know what my PR is for a half but have no idea what it is for a 5K or a 10K.  I try to rule myself by the 'Just Finish and have Fun!' mentality.   But after doing the last 2 half marathons (yet 10 total halfs and 2 fulls) and planning to do 10 more over the next 10mos, I'm starting to get a little ruled by the clock!  I want to be faster!  I want to push harder! Yikes!

So, here it is.  I'm going to come clean.  Feel free to judge.  But be sure to go run a hilly half marathon before you judge too harshly!   I ran a 2:22 for the Run the Reagan.  I'm not going to say what Auburn was because between the conditions and the hills, it was tough.  But lets just say I did much better for February.  My PR is 2:15.  I'm hoping to beat it sometime over the next year.  I think I can.  I'm definitely getting stronger and I'm getting faster.  So, I'll continue to be honest and let you know how it goes!

DC Rock N Roll is March!  Looking forward to it!