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I had 7 "off" (read "light training") days after my 70.3 before my next race. The day after the triathlon my dad asked if I wanted to run a Half Marathon the next weekend while I was home. My answer (of course)? Sure, why not!?

Romeo2Richmond Half Marathon
Romeo/Richmond, MI
Sunday, September 18th

I was home for a cousin's wedding for the weekend and got "talked into" running a Half Marathon on Sunday morning before flying back to Baltimore. I put that in quotes, because it's pretty easy to talk me into a race :) It was a beautiful morning for a run and a flat, fast course.

I guess there's not much to report, but I was extremely surprised how well my legs held up the whole way. I started a little tentative, not knowing what to expect, but quickly picked up the pace and managed to come in the first mile at 6:48. I kicked the "chip" off my shoe around 1.5 and had to stop and pick it up, but that was the biggest problem. There were a couple stretches on dirt/gravel roads that were a little tough, and I thought they'd slow me down or tire me out (or both), but they didn't. I kicked in the last mile in 6:33 and finished in 5k-type sprint pace.

I finished a minute off my PR time in 1:30:01, which I'm ecstatic about, considering I had done a Half Ironman a week before! I finished 13th overall and 2nd in my age group :) And my friend who was doing this as part of a 23-mile "easy" run only beat me by 4 minutes...haha. My dad ran well, my sister won her age group and PR'd, and my brother-in-law also PR'd! Good day all around!

 My sister and I showing off our medals at lunch

Afterwards we went to Moose Country Grill in Richmond for some large and unusual burgers. My dad had grilled cheese sandwiches as his buns, and I had pulled pork on top of my burger... yum.