October 6th, 2024

Hampton Beach, NH

Thoughts…

As much as I would have loved to reach my time goal, I am thrilled with how this race went (and for reference, my better times were in ’08, ’11, and ’12 so definitely a different person then!)

1) I never experienced negative thoughts that usually plague me around the halfway point.

2) I walked through a few water stops and up one hill but otherwise I was running.

3) I had enough strength to sprint across the finish line.

4) Nothing hurt! I was sore, of course, but my hips didn’t hurt.

My A goal was to get an overall PR (best time was 2:09:11 in 2012); B goal was between 2:10 and 2:16 (next best times were 2:16 in 2008 & 2011); C goal was to not suffer through the 13.1 miles (ha-ha). As referenced above, I think I nailed that C goal.  

Of course there’s a tiny part that wishes I had at least gotten close to my B goal, but I truly think that my training got me to the finish line stronger and happier.

I don’t see any more half marathons in my future; I think I want to focus on the 10K and 15K distance.

Have you done any fun fall races?