Race Day Gear help!! (Read 758 times)

Well, Here's the Race Report! THANKS FOR ALL THE REPLIES!! It turned out to be a PERFECT day in Mobile for the First Light Marathon and Half-Marathon. Sunny and about 45 Degrees to start and the race finished about 55 Degrees. Definately a little chilly pre-race and to start. I decided to wear shorts, a Nike Dri-Fit T and I picked up a cheap $6 Target Zip-Up Sweatshirt that I wore to start, and some C9 Running Gloves. I wore the Zip up for Warm-Up and the 1.5 miles before I lost it. I just dumped it. It was easier that way and was great advice from those who reccommended it. The weather was ideal the rest of the race. I lost the gloves about Mile 9 and just stuffed them in my shorts. This was my first Half-Marathon and my only my 2nd timed race ever. I ran a 10k in November and was pleased with my time. I trained pretty hard for this one and had a goal of under 2 hours. I really wanted to get 1:57:00 and beat a buddy of mine's time. I was definately nervous and had doubts all this week. When the race started, I felt great. I started at what felt like a good, slow pace and had a goal of sticking close to 9 minute miles. My first mile came in a 9:09 which I was please with as I zig-zagged a bit getting through people at the start. My buddy was running the full marathon and the the course stuck together for the first 7 miles before he split off and we stayed together until then. I ran miles 2-6 pretty fast and still felt good. I knew I had a chance of my 1:57:00 goal. I took a GU pack at mile 5 and another at mile 11. I think this worked great and they really gave me a boost. When I split off from my buddy and began running by myself, I really dialed in and focused. To be honest, those back miles were kinda a blur. I continued to run sub-9 splits until mile 10 and began to slow a bit. I saw some friends of mine who were on Bike Patrol about then and they stuck with me for a bit and relly gave me some motivation. I turned it on the last 1.1 miles big time and finished very strong. I was stoked to cross the finish line at 1:54:30!!!!! WAHOO!!! That was good for 142nd overall in the half and 8th in my age group (M 24-27). I'm hurting a bit, but I am very pleased for my first half time. I never thought I could beat 1:55:00. This will definatley be the first of many! Thanks again to all for the advice and support!! My splits are as follows: Mile 1: 9:09 Mile 2: 8:28 Mile 3: 8:34 Mile 4 : 8:53 Mile 5: 8:45 Mile 6: 8:40 Mile 7: 8 37 Mile 8: 8:40 Mile 9: 8:40 Mile 10: 8:39 Mile 11: 9:07 Mile 12: 8:44 Mile 13 plus .1 : 8:57 AVG: 8:45 Time Overall 1:54:30 --Nate