The Pocatello Half Marathon was terrific! The goal has always been to have 1,000 runners across all the running events, and this year, in the 10th anniversary, they made it! 1,044 people signed up. Unfortunately, the original race director died 5 weeks before the race. But as my mom said, he was up above with the best seat in the house.

I did a good job of pacing myself. I let everyone else take off, then picked them off over 13 miles. I ran a nice race, and never wore myself out. If I had picked up the pace a little at the end, I may have ended up in 2nd place instead of 3rd place, but I felt fantastic after!

And I made a new friend. Her name is Bridget Simpson, and she's from Tennessee. Her goal is to run a race in all 50 states, so she carefully chooses her races. She looks for the ones where she'll get a finisher's medal, something to show for her efforts. Pocatello was number 31. What an awesome goal! And she took first place in the Master's division in the 10k. She's an inspiration.

Because I felt so good last weekend, I'm going to take on another half marathon tomorrow. This one should be much more interesting. It doesn't start until 10:10, so the weather could be a big factor. It is a loop course, so I have to run around 4 times plus a little tiny bit at the end. And I got stung by a bee on the top of my right foot, so it's all swollen. Why not add another challenge, right? Like I told someone else, it's all mind over matter!

As summer winds down, and the days get cooler and shorter, I know my running days are numbered for this year. But I will run every day I can--mind over matter!