Eleven years ago, I signed up for my very first half marathon after working up to the distance through the West Texas Running Club races since my first 5k in April of 2009. I found a great little half marathon in Irving, TX called Heels and Hills. Sadly, it is no longer around. I was 41 years old and really knew nothing about racing long distances. There was a training plan in the back of one of my favorite books, Marathoning for Mortals by John Bingham and I followed it to to the letter. I didn’t know what a gel was, didn’t carry water, didn’t know what a pacer was or what a good finish time was… nothing, but I ran pretty well! I managed a 1:59:13 and was overwhelmed with emotion when I crossed that finish line. What had just happened? How could I have pushed my body to finish 13.1 miles?! Little did I know that was just the beginning of my foray into long distances!
Read more on her blog
https://debrunsto50.wordpress.com/2021/03/30/coming-full-circle-irving-half-marathon-race-recap/
courtesy of Debbie Gelber