I went into the Lehigh Valley Half Marathon with no expectation of breaking a PR or having a tremendous day, but I turned out running it even faster than I ran the Fairfield half 2 years ago .. finishing it in 1:42:11 (unofficial of course). The official results for the Lehigh Valley Half aren’t yet up, but i’m wondering where I ranked in it.

My pace throughout was between 7:45 and 7:55 except for the one mile where we were in the Lehigh Parkway and hitting a series of hills (did that in about 8:15). It was a much better run than previous appearances at this race, it didn’t seem so congested with people, which was a complaint I had in other years, but I’m thinking that because I ran it faster, maybe I left the people behind, I don’t know.

I had the opportunity to talk to a bunch of people that I work with, along with an older gentlemen who finished in 1:47 and was talking to me about doing Ironman triathlons, i was impressed. He learned the same thing I did in competitive running, in that its about hitting your best, not the best in comparison to others. Granted its nice to see where you might rank in your age group, or overall, but it shouldn’t be the driver.

As usual, I saw some interesting things on the course, including a woman pushing a double stroller .. thats nuts. The weather held out, and was actually perfect … starting in the low 50’s, overcast, with a shower throughout. At the end of the race, it was starting to rain pretty steadily, but it felt good. By that time i was pretty worn out and didn’t have any major pains anywhere, but the rain felt good.

It was nice having the race just over the hill, it was a quick ride home … quick shower and on with my day, i’m not used to that.

So the question now is whether i’ll do the Fairfield half in last June .. i’m thinking I should to keep my adrenaline going for racing since i’ll be just before halfway through training for the fall … I dunno, we’ll have to see.

A big hats off to everyone who finished today, who volunteered and cheered us on… only a week of rest now before formal training starts for the fall…