5 half's down - 4 days to go

Since I'm having a tough time focusing this morning, I thought I might as well update my blog.
Sunday was the Bellingham Bay Half marathon, officially number 5 of my 12 in 12. Not much sleep the night before as I listened to the pouring pouring pouring rain
I had visions of a chilly wet run and garbage bags at the start line.
Luckily the half start time was 9:30, which any half marathoners out there will realize is really late as far as start times go. This meant we could stay at home Saturday night and make the cross-border trek in the morning. Border line-ups were a little heavier than expected but after about a 20 minute wait we were across the border and headed to downtown Bellingham. The rain from the night before was gone and there was a fierce wind blowing the clouds away.
Arrived at the start area in plenty of time, found cheap parking a couple blocks away, late package pick-up went smoothly as did bag drop. By now the sun was shining (although the wind was still blowing) and it was much warmer than expected.
The race started right on time and we were off on a tour of historic Bellingham, it was a great course, a mixture of residential, park, waterfront, trail, and boardwalk. The occasional small hill, both up and down, all around a great course. The full marathoners, did a point to point route, they started at 7:30 and their route joined up with the half course at our 4 mile mark, it was great to run along marathoners who were at about the same pace. The only downside to this course was the wind, it was at our backs for the first 4 miles or so, and then we turned, there were a number of places where you had to squint and keep your eyes almost closed against the dust and dirt blowing around, and lots of debris falling from trees. The volunteers and spectators more than made up for this little inconvenience though. I would definitely recommend this event to anyone looking for a September half, it fits in nicely with tapering time for October marathons - oh and I forgot to mention one of the nicest medals and shirts in a long time!
Not a great time for my result, but not unexpected, training has really taken a back seat for the last couple months and in particular for the last couple weeks. The 4 days to go reference is 4 days left to complete my comprehensive exams: two 20 page papers, one on advocacy coalition theory and one on my methodology for my research project. They are coming along and will get done, but it is a challenge.
So what's up next......well number 6 and the half way point is coming up quick, Thanksgiving weekend in Victoria (where Dave will be running his second marathon), and then November is still undecided. I need some help with this one. Here are the options:
1 - Fall Classic - double loop around UBC - I've done this one a number of times and can't say I've ever enjoyed it, I think this one is November 20th.
2 - The new Ginger Jar half - another double loop this one around Stanley Park, this one is November 27th so it's a week before Vegas.
3 - Phantom trail run options of 12, 19 or 24 km. None of these distances are half marathon length, but 19 is close, this will be a challenge, I'm loving the trail running but boy am I slow, a 12 km run generally takes 1:45, not sure I'm up for these distances.
Let me know what you think - maybe I'll go with the one with the most reccomendations

Ok enough procrastinating, time to get back to the papers and figure out just what it means to code interview data.

Cheers and thanks for reading!

Update time

Thought it might be time for an update on how the 12 halfs are going.
It's been a nice break between events this time, with my September one not until the 25th. In the meantime I've been trying to focus on the other aspect of this adventure (my doctorate) as well as continuing to incorporate Michael's diabetes into our lives.
Michael is back to school, and adapting well. Our school, Gray Elementary, has been wonderful. They have a couple other kids with diabetes within the school and are well versed with the potential issues for kids with diabetes. It is great that the school has been proactive and I feel confident that should an emergency arise they will know what to do. It also helps being off this year and knowing that most of the time I am only 10 minutes away. Michael has also started back with his swim club, first practice this week went well, both in terms of blood glucose levels and swimming :) Michael was thrilled that he was the fastest in his group on Monday, and is looking forward to seeing how his times come down at the first PASS meet of the year in October.
I am spending this week getting myself organized for comprehensive exams. Comps are one of the major hurdles to get over in doing a doctorate. In my program they consist of two major papers which will ultimately form the basis of two dissertation chapters. My questions will be emailed to me Friday morning and then I have two weeks to complete two 20 page academic papers. I already know the topic areas so I've been able to collect background materials (haven't read it all yet), and get things organized and ready to go. The next two weeks will be a lot of work but then a short break to recover and I'll be good to go moving forward with research.

On the running front, well I'm not running as much as I'd like :(
So I won't be expecting any PB's anytime soon :)
September's event is the Bellingham Bay half, looks to be a nice course with a beautiful finishing medal and shirt. Dave and I will be driving down for the day, this will be a good taper run for Dave in anticipation of the Victoria marathon a couple weeks later.
October will be Victoria, I'll be running the half and Dave will be running the full, his training has been going very well so I'm sure he'll have a successful run. I'll be out there enjoying the beautiful scenery and since the half starts well before the full marathon I'll be finished in lots of time to cheer on the Alma marathoners!
November has been a tough decision, the new Whistler 50 relay is the same weekend as the Boundary Bay half so that one is out, there are two other halfs in Vancouver the Fall Classic and a new one the Ginger Jar half both of which are double loops (ugh), another option is a new race in Victoria, the Bear Mountain half. The Bear Mountain 10 km race advertises itself as North America's hardest 10 km, due to the three hills nicknamed Baby Bear, Mama Bear and Papa Bear. This year they are adding a half marathon course (not a double loop). This could be a fun event and may turn into a girls weekend :)
That's it for now, I'll be back in a couple weeks with a race report and comp report, until then happy running and happy studying!