spanning the seasons

Atlanta Half Marathon Official Time: 2 hours, 4 minutes! Whoo-hoo! My goal was 2:10, and to know I not only beat that goal, but shaved 20 full minutes off my time from Disney last January, makes me extremely proud. It was quite a run, one of the best I've ever done. I'm already thinking of my post-marathon goal now-- finish the half in under 2 hours. If I had known I was going to be that close, I would've booked it even more to hit the 1:59 mark!

So as Erin and I were out doing our 9 mile training run last night, it started getting dark around 5:45pm. I started thinking as we were running past houses lit by Christmas lights how my running has carried over time. After the half marathon last January, I hit a whole new level of interest and excitement with my running. Even with my goal a year away, I continued to train, even through the dog days of summer when it was a too hot to run at 7:00am.

When we started our official training schedule in September, it was still hot, and even though we still had daylight at 7:00pm, you couldn't get out before then because of the heat and/or summer afternoon thunderstorms. As the long runs increased from the first week, 6 miles, to this week's upcoming 18 miles, we kept going, never missing a training day, never cheating, never stopping. The rainy season slowed, the oppressive humidity dried up, and an occasional comfortable day started slipping in. Night fell earlier and earlier, and it's continued to get cooler and cooler. We've run from summer straight through fall and into winter (granted, not that our seasons are very pronounced in Florida, but you get the idea!). We've run distances I never thought possible. I took 20 full minutes off my half marathon time. I feel stronger mentally and physically than I ever have in my life, and the race still looms ahead of us, a mere 6 weeks away!