Tales of Running: The 1st Half--Marathon of the Season: Or, OUCH!

Optimistic at the start. On Sunday, I plunkered down for my first half-marathon of the season, the Shipyard Old Port Harbor Half-Marathon in Portland, Maine. It was a brutal run overall but one that I needed to get done. It's been about 2 months since I last wrote about my running . And while I've been logging in mileage as best I can, I still haven't upped the running to the point where I feel like I'm at a good training level for tackling the upcoming marathon (now clocking in at 3 months away--gulp!). Thus, I needed a good kick in the ass like this run in order to get me back on a more serious focus on running. Granted there have been distractions such as going away in May and having a very busy month in June, but the summer's here in full force and I need to charge ahead! Onto the Race What were some of the challenges of the race? The first was the heat. It was harsh. Though the race started around 7:30AM, it was already in th...