Kevin
Thanks for your post. Between you and Howard, I think a change in my philosophy is appropriate. Only once in my life have I run with a friend, and that case a very good friend indeed, as I ran with Martha in 2005 in her first ever half marathon on the old Disney course. I had a great time, and I think she enjoyed having me beside her every step, alternately encouraging her, telling bad jokes, and singing stupid songs.
In the corrals I'm always ready to zoom off on my own, but I would have given almost anything to have had someone with me on January 7. I need to reconcile the 19 year old in me who wants to go fast, and the actual 50 year old who still wants to go as fast as possible, but needs to balance the risk and return on that given racing day.
I have none of the constraints that you have, and we both got the same result. I'm not in school, I have a phony job with allows me to come and go as I like, I don't have small children who need my attention, and my wife is training a lot as well, so I don't have any trouble getting time to workout. And I still struggled to get enough training in.
Also, 1 year in the half I was struggling pretty bad with the asthma, so I taped my inhaler to my sleeve. Worked for me.
Take care
Craig
