30 minutes down, 90 to go.

Once again, I have slipped a couple mental cogs. This time, I have decided to participate in a half-marathon, at the shrine of the Mouse. I haven't run competitively in about 15 years, and haven't run for fun in probably 10. I used to bike a lot, until about 3 years ago, but even that has slacked off considerably.

So, I am back in training. I am running on a treadmill 3-4 times a week, and building up time. I am up to 30 minutes, but my pace is still a feeble 6.5 miles per hour. At that rate, I need to be able to run just over 2 hours, hence the title. I actually plan on increasing my time to 45 minutes over the next couple weeks, and then holding at that time while improving speed.

The sad thing is how much of a difference there is between now and high school. Okay, I am not running twice a day, and running on a treadmill is substantially different than running in a race, but my times are pathetic compared to my not-so-great-but-not-so-terrible times when I was 17. Actually, it's probably not as bad as I think it is - I am comparing my current speed and times to the pace I could do toward the end of the season, not the start, but it's still demoralizing.