Well folks the goal time has been reached, my quads are still aching, and now it is time to take a little break from running. And by “little break,” of course what I really mean is like 3 or 4 days tops.

In 2003 I ran the Country Music Half Marathon for the first time. My result on that particular year was 2:02:59. Two years later in 2005, I had a horrible run (probably from a lack of training) and finished my second attempt in 2:20:58. That was the infamous year when I walked the last part of race, just to spite all those around me who were finishing their race in a sprint. I trained once more in 2007 to run the half, put on the day of the race I woke with a stomach bug that sidelined me to the bathroom for the entire day. Truthfully I think that I would have rather run the race than throw-up all day.

I set out for 2010 to by my year to break the 2 hour mark for the Country Music Half Marathon. I dedicated myself to the East Nasty training schedule, I followed the Winter Speed Sessions almost to a T, and on the week before the race I basically followed every rule in the book to ensure my best race day possible. My brother Drew just kept telling me to keep my pace under 9 minutes, and everything should be just fine.

Well, he was right.

1:55:28

I finished my first 5K in 24:40, which is a sub 8 minute pace. Then I properly took my foot off the gas pedal and moved into a comfortable pace of 8:45 and finished out the race with ease. It was definitely the best day of running that I had so far this year, which I guess means that the training program worked well for me. I am also just plain happy that I set a goal 4 months ago and accomplished it. Now the new goal will be to keep up this stamina, find another half marathon a few months away on a much flatter course, and then set another PR for myself.

Until then, I will be applying the tiger balm to my quads, relaxing a bit, and trying my best catch up on the things I have put aside while training this winter.