I am in no shape for a half marathon.  But, the town in which I currently reside held its second annual Half Marathon (sponsored by a local bank), combined with a 3rd year of a 5k sponsored by the local Lion's Club.  The first 5k was literally in my neighborhood.  Roads I've run hundreds of times.  Then, last year, as the race expanded, it went to the other side of town, by the high school.

The last two years, my daughter has run the 400m kids' fun run at the event.  She seems to really like to race.  The day before, I took her to track practice with me, so she could get a practice run in.  Basically, she ran a lap, just as she would do in the race.  Practicing, she got the same time as she did last year.  This year, in the race, she went faster.  What's cool is I was able to show her how she had gotten faster since last year, and she seemed to really think that was cool.

As for me, I ran the 5k.  This year, I have done none of the speed work I had done in the spring (which amounted to about a weekly track session in March and April).  Worse, I had run 4 miles the day before the race.  This was abnormal for me to run at all right before a race.  But, my mileage was so low; I needed to run (compulsion!).  April was difficult to find time to get mileage done.

Then, warming up with the little girl, I felt a tweak in my hamstring.  My expectations were not high at all.  In fact, I suspected that my great 2012 was to be followed by an abysmal 2013.

Yet, when the gun went off, I just ran.  Throughout the first mile, I kept "marking" runners ahead of me, and using them to pace.  It took nearly a mile, but I found somebody to work with.  She and I traded on and off for the next mile and a half or so.

Despite my lack of pre-race ambition, I was surprised as I approached the finish to have a very respectable time going.  As the race ends on the track, I figured I had 300m to book it, too.  That was, essentially, what I did.  In fact, I finished with my second best time ever.

Needless to say, I was very happy.

There was a great little expo going on, but I didn't get much of a chance to check it out.  There were lots of booths from local vendors and businesses.  It was a really well put together event.  I'm not sure if the course is great, or if I run it well because I know where I'm going.  In fact, I still don't know the half marathon course, but I'd bet it's basically an "okay" run, with some loops, and a bit on the rail trail.  Still, I would highly recommend the Cheshire Half Marathon/5k to anyone who is in the area.