Half-Marathon Moments

A fun day at the Orange County Marathon last Sunday. Our Winter Team coach, Jimmy, ran to break three hours. Meanwhile, some Hawaii chums and a few current members of TNT ran the half-marathon. Not a big field; several thousand runners; nothing like the mass of humanity stuffed onto Ala Moana Street in Honolulu. Other Hawaii chums showed up to cheer us on.

My times were a pleasant surprise. I set out to hit consistent splits. For the first five miles, they fluctuated greatly. But at six, I hit a stride. For the next seven miles my splits rarely varied more than 16 seconds. I finished at a pace a minute faster than planned and felt great.

My main drawback was a lack of oomph. I wanted to push the last 3.1 miles. But every time I sped up, my body tightened so I had to slow. It's all part of the rebuilding process. Plenty of time for oomph training before San Diego.

Jimmy failed to meet his goal. But he rallied from disappointment, saying it was his best marathon of 2006.

Afterwards, there were blueberry pancakes and bacon for all.