Skunk Cabbage report

It took 12 weeks of training and running 10-20 miles per week, but I made it. I learned a lot about how to train (have a schedule!), I made some mistakes (iron is important), I spent lots of quality time running with my friends, and I am now in the best shape of my life. All the hard work paid off and I finished faster than I could have predicted.

Half marathon results: 2:22:14, 10'52" minutes per mile, 429/465 overall, 98/108 for my age/sex bracket, 200/226 overall for women.

That's not bad for my first real running race, but I have to admit, I was a lot happier with my results before I saw all the ranks. I just have to remind myself that it's a great time for me (amazing, really) and that now I have a personal record that I can aim to beat next time. Most importantly, I had a lot of fun and enjoyed every minute of the run.

I'm especially proud of my training partners. We worked really hard for the past few months and it showed. All of us were able to run the entire distance without injuring ourselves and each of exceeded our own expectations. Remarkably, all of us want to do it again, and some crazy folks even want to double it for a full marathon.

Race stats:

• Food: 2 packages of goo consumed along the run. That stuff is magic.
• Water: I was the only person that I saw carrying a gatorade bottle by hand, but it was so worth it. The 4 water stations would not have sufficed.
• Weather: mid-50's, sunny (amazingly, I have tan lines), slight wind
  
• Body parts that hurt the next day: left ankle, right knee, both quads
• Vitamin I: 1 so far
  

Notable training milestones:

• August 2009 (~8 months ago): first time running a mile since high school
• October 2009 (~6 months ago): first time running 5k
• January 2010 (Week 1 of half marathon training): first time running 4 consecutive miles
• March 2010 (Week 10 of half marathon training): first time running 8 consecutive miles
• April 2010 (half marathon): first time running 13.1 consecutive miles
• Miles logged so far: 244

I know I'm repeating myself, but seriously, thanks to everyone who's cheered me along, virtually or in real life. I'm lucky to have so many great people in my life, especially those who ran the 10k or half marathon, came out to watch, and helped celebrate.