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It was awesome. Running a race is soooo much more fun than running by myself. I was hoping to be between 2:00 and 2:15, with a stretch of under 2:00. I had an ankle injury in July that took the wind out of my training for about 2 weeks and it took a while to recover any sort of speed. My max distance before the race was 10 miles. On race day I figured I would keep the 2 hour pace guy in sight for as long as possible, and probably be dropped by mile 5 or so. What actually happened is that I felt like I was running more slowly because he was behind me. (I had MapMyRun tracking my pace, but purposefully had the feedback turned off.) After a few miles I was convinced the 2 hours pacer had dropped out or suffered some problem. Then around mile 4 I heard music coming up behind me at the beginning of the uphill portion of the race - must be the pacer. KC and the Sunshine Band, Rick James, Phil Collins's's's Sussudio etc. Turns out it was just 2 awesome guys running with a handheld speaker and singing. Singing along made the long slow uphill stretch fly by. When we came to the steep hills I felt really prepared - mostly because I knew where they would end. The woman running next to me and I powered up the hills, dropping the music guys and passing several others. After we ran and intermittently chatted for several miles - it turned out she is the wife of one of my colleagues. Fun coincidence. Around mile 10.5 she asked my target and I said between 2:00 and 2:15 and she said, "well you're at a sub 9:00 pace now, so you should make that easily." Instantly my body said, "Oh yeah?" I stopped to walk through the water station at mile 11 and totally bonked. First the singing guys passed me, then the 2 hour pacer, then so many others. I ran/walked the last 3 miles and finished in 2:03. Not sub 2 hours, but still a strong showing for my first half marathon. More importantly....I had a great time!!! At the finish line I high-fived the mayor and drank and ate everything I was offered (big mistake). A week after the race, I am already planning my next one. For the record, the 2 hours pacer finished in 1:59:46. Ha! Shows what I don't know.

Hi Big Adam. I think you hit the nail on the head in recognizing that this eating is not from hunger, but from habit. I'm struggling with this too. I snack too often at work. My cue is when I kick off a long running query, I walk over by the snack station. Too often, I give in. This guide to changing habits is written by Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit. http://duhigg-site.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/A-guide-to-changing-habits.pdf

I did it!!!!!!!! (And !!!!!!! Some more just for emphasis) I completed The Town Half Marathon in just over 2 hours. Bonked around mile 11, but I am still so happy with the results.

Alameda here. Definitely going to check out Lake Chabot. Love camping there with the kids.

10 GD Miles! I am calling this challenge successfully completed! What did I learn over the course of this challenge? 1) I can do it! 2) When you meet resistance, don't stop, adapt. 2) If you're gonna run 10 miles, pack some nutrition and hydration.

I stop it when it hits the marker and then walk back to my apartment

First run exploring the new neighborhood. The donut shop at mile 3 smelled so so so good.

I made an executive decision amd extended my challenge through Friday. Side goal: Bach on Bass http://youtu.be/NNAKh63NzW0

Last weekend I moved to Alameda. Looking forward to living on the island and running by the beach, but the move was really draining and didn't help my ankle at all. Also, I have had to adjust my schedule. Now I bike to work instead of walk, which has been easier on my ankle, but is no substitute for the runs. But I've got a race to run so d@mmit today I ran anyway. My times have slipped, but I was able to get in 6 miles. Going on the theory that some is better than none, and running slowly is better than not running at all, I feel like it was a successful first run in 10 days. Hopefully my ankle holds up and the speed comes back in thr next few weeks. For the record, my ankle didn't hurt until about the 5th mile, and then continued for the rest of the day. Icing tonight.

Thanks for the replies everybody. I took yesterday off, but went for what ended up being a two hour bike ride this morning. My ankle is slowly recovering, and I'm going to keep icing and stretching it over the weekend. Hopefully I will be back on my game, Monday.

Hit a bit of a stumbling block. Around the 4th I hurt my ankle. I think it is either my peroneus tertius or extensor hallucis longus. I ran on Monday. Bad idea. Cycled on Tuesday. Seemed to be okay. Took yesterday off. I have been icing and stretching, but it still hurts if I walk more than a few blocks and I'm debating what to do about tomorrow's 9 mile run. a) run through it. Endorphins will kick in after the first couple miles. take the day off c) go for a 90min bike ride. I tend to get a better cardio workout on a bike, but not the same leg workout. I am leaning towards see because this feels like one of those moments where I could lose all momentum and the other 2 options feel like they will push me in that direction, either through taking or forcing more time off. Another compounding factor is that I am moving on Sunday. Any advice?

And woohoo! Just learned what stat points are and figured out how to make a signature. Thanks, Kailer!

FEFRF - my 8yo was zooming ahead and would pause occasionally to throw rocks in the water; my 5yo generally either lagged behind or was at my tempo. Still, they did a great job hanging in there for 4 miles.

Based on a google maps check, the overall distance looks very close. It added distance during mile two (registered a 4:24 mile - lol), but subtracted distance during mile 3, showing a straight line instead of following the curve. It seemed to track around the lake just fine on my 8 mile run last Wednesday. Not sure why it had trouble today. I'm going to make my next run somewhere other than the lake so I can get a more accurate read.

Hi Sue, I am running my first half marathon in August. Unlike you, I am starting from no exercise at all, so my training plan may be a bit different. I think the biggest difference is in the last 2 weeks. The 14 week program I am using starts the taper 2 weeks before the race, with a very light final week before the race. Most people I have talked to said you don't need to run a full half marathon before the half marathon. I'll let you know how this taper works for me after August 16th. Week 12: Monday: Rest Tuesday: ER 4 miles + ST Wednesday: XT 40 minutes Thursday: TR 4 miles Friday: Rest Saturday: ER 11 miles Sunday: R/W 3 miles Week 13: Monday: Rest Tuesday: ER 4 miles + ST Wednesday: XT 40 minutes Thursday: ER 4 miles Friday: Rest Saturday: ER 6 miles Sunday: R/W 3 miles Week 14: Monday: Rest Tuesday: ER 4 miles Wednesday: Rest Thursday: ER 3 miles Friday: Rest Saturday: ER 2 miles Sunday: Half marathon!

Couple of epic MapMyRun screenshots. The first is from my weekend run with the kids riding their bikes. I felt like the middle of a 100m bungee cord. They had fun and so did I. Then this bit of top notch GPS awesomeness from this morning's run. I just ran down 19th, around the northern perimiter of the lake and back. There were a few other runners that were slightly faster than me, which helped me increase my pace. Hopefully that will happen in the race too. Of course, there were plenty of runners who were way faster than me, but I might as well be chasing cars at that point. [emoji39]

Yes, it does refer to pho. I love it so much I could eat a whole bucket... it's now my oldest son's favorite food too. About to head out for an 8 mile run now. Don't know what stat points are, but I'll look them up this weekend. Thanks!

Thank, Kailer Over half way through the 14 week program now. I either had GPS problems today or went swimming without knowing it.

Goal 3 officially accomplished. 1 mile in 7:48:09. Kicked my high school self's ass! Also, I have new found respect for how fast a 4 minute, or even 6 minute mile is. I ran flat out for 1/8th mile and that was a 6 minute pace. Trying to fathom keeping that tempo up for the rest of the mile. Sheesh.

Ran the first 7 miles of the race course today @ 9:30min/mile. With 7 weeks to go until the race, I think there is a chance I can eek out the half marathon in under 2 hours. On my side quest of recording the Bach sonata, I still have 57 measures left to memorize in the second half of the Presto movement. Feeling behind schedule on that.

Felt like I had no legs for running today. But for the first time, I ran 4 miles with no walking breaks, and I kept all of my miles under a 10 minute pace (average 9:20). It was really hard.

Thanks! On Monday's run, MapMyRun clocked my first mile pace at 6:12. I thought, "Wow! I feel good. I had not idea I could run that fast." I continued to marvel at my improvement for the rest of the run. From over 12 minutes to 6 minutes in just 6 weeks. That's 75% of the way to a 4 minute mile. By the time I finished my run, I had myself breaking the 4 minute mile, writing a self-improvement best-seller and on the front of a Wheaties box. .... Five minutes later, as I marveled at my workout stats, I noticed that my elevation dropped 547 feet in the first quarter mile. MapMyRun had started at a cell tower 4 blocks away and added that to my distance before catching up to me. Doh!

Woohoo! - In the 2nd mile of my 4 mile run today, I ran a 7:56 mile. On Saturday I'm going to a track to make it official. My pace for the entire run was under 9 mins - had some GPA problems, so I'm not exactly sure...

This thread inspired me to go to a comic store for the first time in years. So much fun. Thanks!