Last Saturday I ran another half marathon--the Hands on House Half Marathon in Lancaster. I ran it partly because it was close, partly because it was hilly, and because several friends from Church were in the race. It was a beautiful Saturday morning. The race started at 9 am. Just 1,200 people started the race, compared more than 15,000 at the Philadelphia event two weeks before. Before the race started I hoped I could finish under two hours, but wasn't sure. I felt better as the race went on and my pace was staying close to nine minutes per mile, so I thought I was going fast enough.
At mile nine, my left calf started to hurt and my legs started to feel heavy. I thought I was keeping the pace up, but at the finish line the clock said 2 hours, 1 minute, 58 seconds.
Oh well.
I can try again soon. There are several events reasonably close in the next two months. My leg is recovering. I ran three miles each of the last two days. The winner in my age category finished almost 20 minutes ahead of me, so that goal is a long way off.
