The fact that this morning I'm walking around like an 80 year old notwithstanding, yesterday was a great day...

So yesterday was the half marathon and it was awesome. Here's what went down:

Results: I had 4 sequential goals going into the race. First, I wanted to simply finish. Second, I wanted to have run the whole distance. Third, having accomplished those first two, I wanted to beat the first marathoner (the races were concurrent). And fourth, I was hoping to break 2 hours. Guess what? Mission accomplished and I made all 4. Amazing! Here are my numbers (from this website):

Time: 1:56.46
Pace: 8:55
Overall Place: 297 out of 1387
Age Group: 26 out of 74
Our first 10K Split: 55:54
By the way, the first marathoner finished in 2:28.40. Also, the winner of the half finished in a mind-boggling 1:09.25, at which point Jeremy and I were just approaching mile 8...

Couple of things I learned:

1. Next time, start faster. In a race this size (3000 runners), the first mile is tough as you're basically running shoulder to shoulder the whole way, jostling with your neighbors. I hadn't thought about that beforehand, but because Jeremy and I were put into what's called "corral C," we were about 2/3rds of the way back from the starting line. All of this meant that our first mile was a slow 9:43 or so. We had to play catch-up from there.

2. Next time, more clothes. Man, it was cold. I don't think the temp ever got above 55, and we started (at 7am) in a light drizzle. I had gloves but not a long sleeve shirt becauseI was worried I'd get hot. Note to self...next time layer and remove clothes if you have to as you go.

3. Cheering crowds mean everything. Especially at mile 11 or so. I gotta get a crew who will just show up and cheer for me at random intersections on my training runs!

How I feel:

1. Satisfied. It's a cool thing to pick out a goal, work toward it and then accomplish it. My friend Nicole left me a voicemail yesterday and she said, "I hope you have a deep sense of personal satisfaction." Yep.

2. Like a cool Dad. So they gave us finishing medals and did that ever make me the hit in my household (for a half hour at least). And Josh has already asked if we can go running this week. I said, "Sure. Right after Daddy can walk again."

3. Ready for more. Amy and I gotta talk about marathons and all that, but I'm fired up to keep training and to keep racing. Next up is a 10K at Thanksgiving in Sacramento and then a 5K in early December here in Fresno.

Thanks to everybody for all the encouragement, text messages, voicemails, blog comments, etc. Here are a couple of pics: