First Snow Run of the Year!

Working from home today and had to get out for a quick 5 miles in the wintry goodness :-). Lots of fun marathon training to come prior to the big event in January.

Hartford Half Marathon

With memories of a 30 degree day in Disney a few years back, Lorraine and I both ran, and completed, the Hartford Half Marathon this morning. Yes my friends, it was darn cold out there prior to the start!
Our goals were simple. For Lorraine, it was a sub-2hr finish, and sub1:40 for me. When all was said and done, we were both very satisfied and held new PR's.
I wasn't sure how much the cold was going to affect my lungs as I hadn't had a opportunity to test them out this year. I was definitely breathing tightly for the first couple miles, but opened up through mile 10. At that point though, I tightened up again and was a bit in pain breathing-wise. I nearly stopped and took a couple hits of the inhaler, but was able to keep it in check by slowing down. At least I thought I was slowing down, but apparently the last couple mile splits were faster than the previous 4-5 miles... At the finish, as I heard my name announced by the MC, I looked up at the clock to see 1:38:xx, sweet victory. :-)
Lorraine struggled toward the end as well and it didn't look like it was going to be her day, but as she contemplated stopping to walk for a stretch...the 2hr pace group slowly passed by. With an "Aw, crap" she took the invite from the pace leader to join in. Rejuvenated by the groups energy, she pressed on to complete under 2hrs @ 1:58:25. A mental and physical victory that she will surely tell the tale about for years to come.
With the new PR and Hartford past me, the focus is now turned to Disney and the full Marathon. Will it be another PR? I had a good run in Hartford last year which culminated in a 3:45, and nothing is guaranteed where a marathon is involved.....stay tuned and we'll find out!

Happy Labor Day!

Not much new, got a good 10k in today. It was surprisingly hot today. Probably a combo of high humidity and the sun following me all 49 minutes of it. Felt like was moving more at a 7:45 pace, but apparently it was just the heat messing with me. Still, felt good to get the miles in and add to a decent weekend of workouts. Put in 21.5 on the bike yesterday.

My daughters 8th b-day party tomorrow, so the workout might be a tad bit lighter, we'll see what we have time for. Lorraine's got a Tri in a week, so her workout takes priority :-).

I don't have the August numbers in front of me, but think I ended close to 115 run miles and 70 or so on the bike. Will post them once I fire up the laptop.

Hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable labor day. Let's take summer out the right way and cheer on some better running weather! (hopefully)