Oh Half Marathons..why can't I quit you?

That's right...after two very traumatic half marathons in Kenya, I am signed up once again. I don't know what happens to me - I just see the little table where they are taking names and handing out t-shirts and I'm magnetically drawn to give them my money and take a race number - despite the pain, despite the agony, despite the IV and passing out ;-)

The good? Well, this time I started with 6 weeks to train, which is double what I normally do.  I'm feeling GOOD this time! The race is on Oct 30, so I have 3 weeks left. This morning I ran 8 miles plus some sprints at the end before work.  It was great - really, I ran the whole thing..gigantic HILLS and dodging cars and crazy matatus, and muddy ditches and ALL! It is VERY unpleasant running in Nairobi - the weather is great, the terrain and roads SUCK. I've said that before so I'm not going to go into it again.

Listen, I'm not going to sit here and pretend I'm a super runner - when I said it was great,  I mean that I didn't die, get mugged,get killed by a bus or twist my ankle on a crater in the road - I'm still running about 9:50 min/miles...But, you have to consider that 75% of the terrain is very ugly hills that slow you down big time..plus the crappy air quality.
I'm using the Half Marathon Plan for Beginner Runners from Runners World.  It's pretty good - there are lots of running drills on there that are aimed at increasing your stamina and speed. I've never really followed a plan before and I'm liking it a lot. It's almost as if they know what they are talking about!

Sergio is running the full marathon and aiming to improve his speed this time. The best is how dramatic I am the night before a long practice run (8 miles) while he is like super quiet and cool about his 18 miles he has to do.  Anyways, I'll keep this updated on the progress.  I'm feeling strong going into this one folks! Maybe I'll even finish without having to have medical attention or emotional drama!