Sunday, December 11, 2011




#35 and 36

I capped a year of racing--the worst racing year of my life. I've watched my fitness fade into oblivion and I don't know how to get it back. It's really frustrating. I'm struggling to run. It's like I've just stopped being able to do anything physically. I struggle just to run 2 miles.

I raced my 35th half marathon and got my 32nd worst time. I did my first nighttime race. It took place in Vegas, my first trip there since 2008. Race officials shut down the strip and we all raced down it at night under the bright lights. I did not run fast and the race was pretty disorganized, as you can read about here. But it was fun to run at night. My brother also happened to be in town, so I hung out with him. We even hit up a Vegas club right after the race.

Exactly seven days later I raced my 36th half marathon in Los Angeles county. It was a nice, pleasant course, but I finished 28 minutes over my usual time, making this my 31st worst time on a fairly easy course. It's sooooo frustrating. I don't know how to get my running back. But I did get my all-time favorite medal. It was called the Holiday Half Marathon and the medal was in the shape of a snowflake. Pretty cute. But where or where did my running ability go??? How am I running two minutes per mile slower than I've ever run, even slower than when I first started running. It leaves me feeling very depressed.

So that was 2011--20 races total and my slowest times ever.