http://www.cahokiamounds.org/

its about 20 miles NE of St Louis, very cool place

The remains of the most sophisticated prehistoric native civilization north of Mexico are preserved at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. Within the 2,200-acre tract, located a few miles west of Collinsville, Illinois, lie the archaeological remnants of the central section of the ancient settlement that is today known as Cahokia.

 I will totally keep your approach in mind and repeat it (especially the beer part ), again thanks LTH I really do appreciate the advice. Luckily my "tempo" runs have prepared me for the final miles to be nauseating and all out physically defying and hopefully I can pull from those experiences and use them to my advantage. I am going to keep myself calm and collected, hopefully the 1 mile walk from my hotel to the start will help with that as well as warm me up.

Honestly, I think you have a good race in you.  Just a thought about an approach.

 

Run controlled in the beginning.  Resist the urge to pick it up just because you are feeling good now.

 

At Mile 5, it's time for your first assessment.  How do you feel?  If you feel relaxed but thinking that this is a bit of an effort, then good.  You're right where you should be.  If you are already starting to feel the effort, back off 10-15 seconds per mile.  You've probably gone out too fast.  If you feel like you're just starting to warm up, feel free to pick it up 5-10 seconds per mile as you have started fairly conservatively.

 

Next checkpoint comes at Mile 8.  How do you feel?  If you are feeling some twinges of discomfort but you aren't struggling, good.  If you are beginning to wonder if you can keep this up for another 5 miles, good.  You're right where you should be.  If you are starting to fade from the effort, back off a lot or you're in for a serious bonk.  Like drop 30 seconds per mile or you might end up walking.  If you are completely relaxed and enjoying the run, then pick it up a notch unless you are doing this as a fun run.

 

Last checkpoint is at Mile 10.  How do you feel.  If you are starting to struggle and maybe have faded 5 seconds per mile or are managing to maintain pace but just barely, good.  You are right where you should be.  Fair warning.  The last three miles will be as miserable as you can imagine.  Hang in there.  Just survive block by block.  Do some fartleks if necessary.  If you went out too fast and didn't pull back, you'll probably blow up just beyond this point.  It won't be a fun walk/jog but you'll finish.  Rather than beating yourself up after the race, spend a lot of time analyzing how you felt at each point and thinking about what you can do differently next time.  If you still feel good, do what a lot of newer runners do at this point and drop the hammer.  You'll have left a lot of time on the course that you can't make up in 3.1 miles but you can still finish strong.  So finish strong.  Make it hurt for at least a little while.  Push hard enough and you might even start to regret dropping the hammer somewhere around Mile 11.5.  If so, good.  You've pushed your envelope a bit.

 

When all is said and done, write a race report.  What went right?  What went wrong?  What would you do differently the next time?  What would you do the same?  What are you unsure of and willing to experiment with?  Get feedback from others so that you get better.

 

Oh.  And have a beer on me.  

LTH is not lying about the last 3 miles.  I've only done 1 HM, but my god that last 3 miles were HELL.  It took every ounce of testicular fortitude I could muster to hold a pace fast enough to make sub 2:00.

You may want to quit really bad towards the end, or walk, but don't give in.  Just gut it out and you'll be so happy when you finish.

I think the main reason I am really excited about this one is because I am not injured or pregnant, and I feel much more ready than my last/first two. I usually manage to muster up more energy when I know I only have 3 or less miles to go, but we will see how this goes.