13.Wine Michigan Wine Trail Half-Marathon

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So, first of all, whoever realized that the URL for this race could be 13.wine should be very proud of themselves.

Second of all, why aren’t there more half-marathons in the Chicago-land area in August that I had to drive to Michigan?

But most of all, this is it! I did it! My Baker’s Dozen of races – 13 half-marathons in 12 months.

The main idea was just to do the challenge. An important lesson I learned years ago from the The Non-Runner’s Marathon Trainer was that every goal you add onto a huge challenge is just a chance to fail even if you complete your main goal. So I had a secret goal, but I didn’t want to hinge my success on it. Which is good, because I failed that that secret goal.

I thought that signing up for 13 half-marathons would scare me into maintaining a reasonable training schedule, and super-secret goal, if I did keep training and running, surely my half-marathon times would creep downward and maybe I’d even PR by the end of the challenge. Instead, I learned that I’ve built up enough endurance (or stubbornness?) over the years that I could muddle through a half-marathon a month without keeping up much of a training schedule at all. I’d run one and it would hurt but I’d finish, so I’d take the next week off “to rest up” and then I’d run a couple 3s or 5s and then it was time for the next one. My times have crept up and up.

The good news is that I haven’t stopped. I’m signed up for two more halves this year. Two more chances to get slower!

Time: 2:48:10
Pace: 12:50 min/mi
Place in Division (M45-49): 4/4