It’s been awhile since I posted on the status of the bet between a coworker and myself.

He is running a half-marathon in Alabama this weekend. I’m running one in NY next weekend. If he beats my time I wear a t-shirt in my next race lettered to say he is faster than me or I am slower than he is.  If I beat his time he wears a tutu in his next race. Polls show most people would rather see him in the tutu than me in that t-shirt. I think I have a slight advantage going into my race knowing the time I need to beat. We’re both running races we’ve done before, so we’re familiar with the courses.

I’m usually in the 9:30 to 10:00 range and until now have never followed the “Train to race, don’t race to train” wisdom.  Which is great wisdom by the way.

I began speed training late in the game for this race and on my most recent training run I ran 3 miles in 27:25.  In comparison my coworker finished a 5K race yesterday in 25:27. If you think that’s fast another coworker won the race in 16:51. A third coworker finished it in 21:46,  a fourth in 22:17, and a fifth in 24:34.  There is something in the water at Huntsville HQ that churns out fast runners.

You can read more about my coworkers’ 5K race in the corporate blog .

Given the time differences and the fact that I 100% treadmill trained due to the nasty winter weather in NY odds are I’ll lose this bet but distance does have a way of evening things out sometimes. I’ll probably have better weather than he will. Alabama is a hot, humid, and pollen choked mess right now. But my race has more hills.

I really hope to bring the sight of my coworker running in a tutu to Huntsville. But if I manage to get a 2 hour time I’ll be happy. My ultimate goal this year is to get just under a 2 hour half marathon time and then call it quits on speed training.

I’ve been pretty lucky to have no issues running as much as I do given the knee surgeries I’ve had and think adding more speed training on top of the distance would be pushing my luck.

I’ve had lateral release surgeries on both knees. Those were surgeries that corrected my kneecap alignment. Having your kneecap slide out of place is a freaky feeling!  No more of that. The third procedure was on my right knee and was a minor procedure to remove a small benign blood vessel tumor.

You would think the two more major procedures would have left me with at least some issues but knock on wood, they didn’t. It’s been around 15 years since the surgeries and I have fewer knee issues than people who have not had surgery! No problems at all distance running. The more minor procedure to remove the benign tumor left the area where the tumor was cut out numb.  Know that test in your physical where the doctor whacks your knee with a mallet to check reflex? It always takes a few whacks to get my right leg to kick.

I have no interest in undoing the good work done on my knees by fooling myself into thinking I can run 7 or possibly even 8 minute miles with no issues.  After I get below the 2 hour time limit there is a possibility I’ll try to carry that pace into another full marathon someday but I’m in no hurry.

Team Michelle!!!