Standing at the starting line of the Half Marathon this morning, I glanced around at my competitors and thought, "Wow. I'm getting old." But, at 39 years old, I've got nothing to lose, so I embraced my Grandma status and raced as hard as I could. Conservative goal,sub 1:20. Medium goal, sub 1:18. Perfect day goal, faster than 1:16:24 (2013 time). It was close to perfect. I ran 1:16:53. I had to stop for a bit at mile seven to cough up an inhaled shot block. That threw the race off slightly. But, overall, I am happy with my race. I got spanked by the first place girl, but she was much more fit. I'm glad I held on to second. I'm really close to my fitness level of 2013. TOU should be a good day. Bonus: No blisters, (though I may lose a toenail.) And, I managed a cooldown this year. I think my recovery will go much better than last time I ran. Still not looking forward to stairs tomorrow. | 