I slept well  last night, woke up just before 4:00 a.m and ate a cliff bar and a banana, and drank some coffee. I went back to bed until 5 which then I got up, got dressed and went for an easy 10-11 minute jog to loosen up. Got inside and started getting Dorian up, and then the husband and we were out the door and on the road by 6:05. Around 6:20 a.m, it started sprinkling.... so much for 10% chance.

  The husband dropped me off at the school (where it starts) and I headed in to use the restroom one more time. The weather said only 10% up until 9 a.m so I just told myself a little drizzle won't hurt. I head to the 2:10 corral and we listen to the guy with the mic who tells us that if severe weather like lightning or horribly high winds I guess, appear then the race would be closed..... I didn't get to hear anything after that part as people started talking, all I could think about was if this race closed before I reached that finish line I would be beyond livid. After the prayer, the gun goes off and we are on our way.

I decided to keep a steady pace, not wanting to go out too fast or too slow in case I did have to stop at a port-a-potty.

Mile 1 - 9:39

Mile 2 - 9:15

Mile 3 - 9:11

   Luckily the major hills were around the first 3 miles and done. I still felt good, then the rain came..... more than a drizzle but not awful. I wasn't ready for any gatorade or water so I kept going past the stops. I didn't think about the miles, or my garmin but just the people around me and that I wanted to finish this.

Mile 4 - 9:24

Mile 5 - 9:14

Mile 6 - 9:19

   Still feeling good at this point, more than just a little rain though.... I was praying for no lightning when I heard the thunder, I wanted to finish this race as I had trained and prepared so hard for it. I saw DH at this point, sadly the dark weather and him not knowing my camera very well ended up no good photos from him so I'll have to wait until the race photographers get their photos up online. I was still feeling good, still doing good and praying for no lightning.

Mile 7 - 9:10

Mile 8 - 9:14

Mile 9 - 9:24

   At this point my knees started to hurt, but I've ran with achy knees before I kept pushing along in a downpour..... wondering why the hell didn't I grab my hat but oh well and all that mattered was crossing that finish line faster than April's HM time..... though I was really wishing I had brought my MP3 player at this point, the voices in my head can be annoying.

Mile 10 - 9:20

Mile 11 - 9:55

   My hips started to hurt, so both hips and knees were hurting bad and causing me to shorten my strides... I kept going, determined to finish at a good time damn it. Just before mile 12, I did stop at a port-a-potty, it wasn't a huge threat but it gave my knees and  hips a little rest and I no longer had gas afterwards I did stop my garmin because I wanted to know the time I would lose stopping at the port-a-potty.

Mile 12 - 10:13

Mile 13 - 9:18

.1 - 7:57

     I swear as I was crossing that finish line the sky began to clear up a little, and the rain was gone (Mother nature has a lot of humor). 

Official Chip Time: 2:04:48  with an average pace of 9:32 min/mile

Overall - 602/2,015

DIVPL - 25/164

SexPL - 220/1,181

Garmin Time: 2:03:18 

  Even in this warm weather, the piss pouring rain I managed to shave another 16 minutes off of my St. Louis Half Marathon just 6 months ago. Not bad I must say, though I am not expecting any big difference next month at the Indianapolis Monumental Half, it just depends on my legs and if they recover completely from this race. Other than that, I feel great and accomplished, I got close to a sub 2 hour finish, and I know it is within my grasp.

Here are some pics:

Somewhere between mile 3 and 5.

Coming down the home stretch, and happy to see the finish.

FS87 - a commendable performance and setting a 16 minute PR.  As someone who has run in the rain a lot here in Georgia, the hat may not make a physical difference in performance but it sure helps psychologically while running.  You gutted through issues and that  2 HR HM performance is nearer on the horizon.

Congrats on a big PR despite the nasty weather.  Well done!

WTG you!  Congratulations on such a nice PR in harsh conditions!

Great job, Free. You'll be under 2 hours in no time!

I thought about you this morning as I was finishing my 15 mile LR. Sorry the weather didn't cooperate, but congrats on the 16 minute PR.

Take the inserts out of your shoes and they will air dry in a day or two. Sometimes I put mine in the laundry room too.

I think you've got time to recover, and it should definitely be cooler in Indy.  That's a great improvement, but I'm not going to be shocked if you finish even faster at Monumental.  Exciting stuff!

Nicely done!  Sub-2:00 is about 4 weeks away!