Not so smart?

So I did something today that may be considered not so smart. I signed up for a half marathon. Sounds alright, right? Well the half marathon is in 11 days? THERE it is. Okay so its not genius but I really just couldn't pass it up. It is the hypothermic half marathon on Sunday February 6th. I ran it last year in St. John's and it was so much fun! Well, it was as fun as a half marathon can be. I honestly am not sure why I think of this one as one of my most fun "races" but it might have been the 2 feet of snow, it might have been the 80% of people that dropped out due to the snow, or it may have been the brunch afterwards. Its not the best time Ive ever gotten (I think I did 2:23) and I was actually the most sore Ive ever been the next day (due to so much extra movement running in lots of snow) but it was a winter half marathon. It was hardcore.

So two of the girls I work with are running it. I have the morning off, and I found someone on Kijiji selling her race entry so I snatched it up. It will be half marathon #7 and I am NOT worrying about my time, or my pace, or anything. Im just going to run it, take walking breaks when I need to, and enjoy the run. It will definitely be included as a long training run (Remember, Im training for a full marathon) in my schedule and Ill take a few days off afterwards.

The thing is, I love "races". I use quotations because I am never really racing and not competitive but something about people getting together to test themselves, their bodies and minds, and see what they can pull off. There is a special energy that surrounds people about to start a half marathon and when they finish, it is even more electric. I have yet to met a runner who isnt at least somewhat excited at the start of a race. I get such a high off of it and I think it will help increase my excitement and training enthusiasm towards the Bluenose.

Anyways, Im in pretty good shape for it. Ran 9 miles today. It was difficult for the pure fact that there was a good 4cm of fresh powdery (slippery) snow on the sidewalks. Besides that (and some bathroom troubles), the run was good. I didn't take any unplanned breaks (Ive recently been doing a minute walking every 2 miles) and was able to finish strong.

Life is about to get a LOT more busy at work, so for the next few months (at least) its going to be a LOT of work and running and not much else. Going to try and focus on feeding myself great foods and drinking lots of water to keep myself healthy, and keep up the yoga and body pump to keep myself strong and injury free.

Enough for now.

Anyone out there running the Halifax Hypothermic Half Marathon?