Doublecreek Half Marathon RR

It's been awhile since I've been on this blog posting a race report! 

We've not run a race in a few months so it was good to get out there, pushing at race pace!  Except, well, I didn't.  I ran a good race.  I had a decent time.  A new PR for me.  2:17:27 was the official time and it's a vast improvement over the 2:38 half marathon I posted about 3 years ago at Garden Spot.  They were similar courses, both hilly at spots and both with some decent flats and rolling hills.  It was a fun day.  My favorite part of the race was meeting up with a new friend I've met online and running about half of the half, lol, with her.  I rarely get a chance during a race to chat at all, because nobody I know runs a similar pace so I'm all alone.  This time was a treat.  However, other than that, I am not sure what I was doing, because I felt a little complacent, bored even.  What the heck?  I'm out there, running and sweating up a storm, and I'm bored????  I'm never bored running.  There's always something to look at, something to think through, something to keep me moving but this time I'm not sure what to think of my run.

I felt strong, I never walked, I kept moving at a good pace even though I *think* I could have pushed down to a 10 minute mile instead of staying at my comfortable 10:30.  Maybe that was the problem?  I was just letting myself coast.  I've gone over and over the race in my head but just don't have a good answer for myself.  I feel like running races is becoming the kryptonite of my love for running.  I have come to enjoy the group runs we do and this is my first year for ever doing that.  So, there is one part of me that thinks that I am just missing out on the give and take of those runs.  You push yourself to keep up not because you're hitting a time but because you don't want to be left behind and lost!  Okay, so I've never been lost but I do push myself super hard on these runs because I want to and it feels good.  I still enjoy my solo runs and I push myself distance wise more than pace wise on those...just trying to hit a little farther down the road before turning around and once I've mastered a distance, finding a new road or a new turn around to add to it keeps me interested.  Where does this leave me?  I have no idea.  I guess I'll just keep running and figure it out. 

One of my least favorite races to run, Habitat for Humanity 5k is in two weeks.  It's usually a hot, hilly run through a road with open fields on both sides of it type of out and back near our house.  I have not been able to conquer it and feel really great about it yet even though it's a 5k.  I am hoping that this is the year that the hills don't look like mountains and I can manage to pull out a sub 10 pace for the run.  9:30 would be an amazing pace for that course so here's hoping!

I guess in the end of it all, I don't care about my race paces...I really just want to always remember how good running makes me feel and hope that my love for getting out there and hitting the pavement (or trails!) never leaves me.  Or if it does, it doesn't stay gone long :)