Half Effort for a Half Marathon

Yes, we're half crazy for doing this race. We have always told ourselves that we run races for the training, not for the actual race. The fact that half marathons and marathons take months of sweat and sacrifice to get into shape and our bodies love us for it - that's what inspires us. The Skagit Flats Half Marathon, well, that's another story. We started off on a good note, prioritizing runs over the summer fun that would happen around us. Then four weeks prior to the race (the most critical weeks of training), we fell off the wagon. I think I did maybe 6 runs in that last stretch, sprinkled with some nights at the gym. So it appears that now we were racing for the shiny medal at the end, not the training.

Was the race painful? Let's just say it wasn't pleasant.
Was my time really that much worse than normal? Umm, yeah. A good 30 minutes slower.
Do I regret choosing summer fun over running? Heck no!
Am I proud of this race? You betcha, I am. I still ran 13.1 frickin' miles!

So the morale of the story: Train for races. Don't do early fall races because they take away from summer fun. And most importantly, always ensure that you have race fans - they will literally be a jolt of energy to get you across that far, far-away finish line. Thanks to my Mom, Dad, Joe, Stephanie and Greg for cheering us on!