When I ran my first half marathon in January, I missed my time goal by only a few seconds.  That was no problem, especially since I think it’s good to set goals that lie just on the cusp of achievable or not.  The concerning part of that race was the fact that I crossed the finish line barely able to go any farther.  It was a tough run, on a difficult course, under the tiring circumstances of just having returned from Antarctica two days earlier.  Overall, I was proud of what I accomplished, but I left the race feeling like I was nowhere close to the 26.2 miles I’ll need to run at the marathon in November.  Even though I had made it half the distance, I didn’t feel like I was halfway towards my goal.