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a Monumental finish to the season

By all accounts this has been a pretty spectacular year for me. I have run several personal records and changed jobs to something I love with a great team. Finishing Ironman was the culmination of three years of focused work. The half marathon at Monumental was supposed to be a "parade lap" of sorts, with no time goals and just having fun.

 I had recovered from Ironman remarkably well and was running pretty peppy. I have had some pain in my foot since July, and finally went to the podiatrist (had an MRI and am waiting for follow up) and we'll see what happens, but I am not making it any worse by running. I decided that as long as I felt good on Monumental day I was going to try to crack 2:20 and have a little PR.

 On race morning I started near the 5:00 marathon pacer, which wouldn't take me out of hitting my goal but wasn't too aggressive to start either. I had planned heart rate targets for chunks of the race and had a pace band to spot check where I was, but I really just wanted to have a lot of fun. The race conditions were PERFECT for racing!

 I ran my race...hitting my HR targets, having a blast, and staying within myself. At 10K I set a new personal record (PR) for that distance and was pretty happy with that, and still felt good running. At 8 and 10 miles I checked and thought I was on about 2:18 pace. When I came past the cheer zone I slammed it into another gear and ran hard through the finish. When I stopped my watch it said 2:15:15. Coach was looking at the race clock and figured I was crazy fast...I showed him my watch and said "not bad for a parade lap."

 The official time was 2:15:13. I had been thinking I could maybe run 2:15 in the spring. I still need to figure out what needs to happen with my foot and wrap my head around what I might be able to run, but I am thrilled with how this year went...and how the season ended.

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