Notes
Well, this turned out to be an interesting day! In good ways and bad!
I started a little faster than planned -- partly to break out of the big pack that was around the 2:00 pacer, partly to get away from the huffy puffy man! Then I got to Calhoun and was still going a little faster than I wanted (I was thinking more like 9:15 the first 2ish, then 9:00s for a few more miles). But I felt ok, so I just held it. I had then hoped to get down to around 8:40 on the second loop of Harriet, but I just couldnt quite get down there. Got to Calhoun again and really didnt think I had any 8:30s in me at that point. I knew if I could just hold 8:45-50 I would still be well below 2:00, so I wasnt beating myself up too much. But after I got past the hill just before Lake, I started going a little faster and realized I was close to 8:30 with only .25 left. I figured I'd try and hold it at least for that mile. I then just focused on each mile and to my surprise, I was able to hold it. RA is rounding up again -- Garmin had me at a 7:18 the last .15! I also put in my official time in this log .. my Garmin had me at 1:55.00 (and 13.15 miles, guess I wasnt so good at tangents).
I honestly had pockets of feeling good and feeling bad, vacillating between the two most of the day - I think that was largely a result of my blood sugar, which felt kind of unstable the whole race. Not terrible, but not overly smooth. I'd take a drink of powerade and feel good for a while, after it kicked in, then I'd start feeling a little shaky again. Luckily, between the aid stations and my Gu, I was able to keep any issues largely at bay.
For the most part, I'm pretty excited about how I did today. But -- even though I did it as a workout -- I'm not entirely sure how much more I can drop my time on a half. Makes me a little nervous for Cape Cod. But .. that's a few weeks away and the weather will likely be cooler, so we'll see!
One other little thing -- on my first lap of calhoun, I was passing a group of runners and ran on the curb a little and landed weird on my foot. Initially i thought my foot might hurt, but it didnt ... but then about 1/2 mile later, my inner left thigh was cramping a little. Luckily it went away the rest of the race (or I blocked it out), but I can for sure feel it now. I'm icing it as we speak. I dont think it's anything serious or long term, just a small tweak. Just FYI in case it bugs me a bit the next few days.