The deadly cycling and running combo

I got a cycle here two weeks back, four days after I landed in seattle, i.e. on 16th sept I guess. And the cycle's proved a good friend so far in taking care of my travel needs and letting me have a flexible schedule. For instance, I don't have to worry about missing the last bus from the university or having to walk three times to and from the university, given that I have stayed at a place that's atleast 30 mins by walk to the university. And more importantly, it has given me the best cross training I can have - the training on the steep seattle roads. I am more comfortable now on going up steep slopes than before. Previously if another biker zoomed past me, I had have a difficult time playing catch up with him/her, but today I had the satisfaction of overtaking a biker who I assume was seriously biking(a bike fitted with two bottles of water plus lubrication bottles), while I was having a heavy bag on the back and was wearing a formal dress!

Also, since I have not been running well(read: zuk running) in the past few months, I didn't feel motivated to run at my current level of fitness. But all the riding I do on the bike has not gone awaste and this cross training has seen my runs, which I currently do once or twice a week, improve a lot. That is to say running and cycling complement each other pretty well.
So today I ran from my department to 60th avenue, I think and back. I planned my run so that I go 15 minutes out and 15 minutes back. Ofcourse, most of the times, the later half of my runs tend to be faster and that was the case today. It took around 15 minutes out and 13 minutes back!!
And google earth told me that the total distance was 5.5 kms. So that's around 5 min/km or 8 min/mile pace, which is great! I am kind of back in form, all I need to do is continue the good work and stay off injuries that may arise from running on hard pavements and/or my need for speed.

I can't believe how I let my fitness fall down so much. This year so far has been my worst in terms of running mileage. Heck, I was running 8kms almost daily 1.5 years back. I guess, I need a race to channel my effort and motivate me more than anythingelse to get my runs in. How does Seattle half marathon on November 26th sound? I am not sure, I am thinking about it. The last date to register so that I shell out only 70$ is october 15th. So I have time to think till then if I really want to run this half marathon. I mean there's no point in running a race, if you don't train well for it. Yeah, you would finish it, but it would be miserable like my first half marathon in India in 2002. I don't want that experience repeated, so my decision to participate in the half mary will depend on whether I keep up the good work between now and october 15th.