Half Marathon #3: Mt. Angel Oktoberfest Road Race

I completed my 3rd half marathon today, the Mt. Angel Oktoberfest Road Race. I am very pleased with my result overall, I set a PR by 5 seconds per mile. I could have finished even better, but I got a rock in my shoe at mile 8, and had to stop and empty it -- which resulted in major pain in my right hip and hamstring for the next mile after restarting. Other than that, and the typical last mile leg cramps in my calves, it was a good run. Here are the graphs from my RunKeeper app:

You can see that the hills at the end of the race got me again, and then leg cramps took over in the last mile. A 5 second per mile jump in PR is respectable, though; so I'll consider this to be progress.

A new motto I came up with this morning before the race.

Now I will take a break from road racing and get back into a normal training routine until next spring. I hope to come back stronger and faster for next years Volcano half, but mostly, I hope to stay healthy and keep putting one foot in front of the other.