I’m not much into half marathons, but I had signed up for this one back in September because my HM PR (1:56:25, pace of 8:53) was badly lagging behind my 5k PR (23:32, pace of 7:35).  I had it on my mind all winter and really got moving on training in late January or so.  I took a hard look at how much I thought I could improve, and I decided that a pace of 8:00 per mile would be good to aim for.  I practiced this pace for a little bit longer each week.  I had a big confidence boost in mid-March when I ran a 20k race with the first 10k easy and second 10k at 8:00 pace and nailed it (and it didn’t feel that hard).  Got in some long runs despite the really frigid February we had and figured I was good to go.

Today, race day, was gorgeous.  No clouds, starting temperature of 45 degrees, only very light wind.  I knew it would warm up a lot, so I wore shorts and short sleeves, which meant I was pretty cold at the start, but I knew it was better to suffer standing around at the start than during the race.  I also made sure to put on sunscreen.  I met up with some friends and managed to sneak into a locked building and use a real, heated bathroom!  The course takes place largely on the campus of Rutgers University, where I did my PhD and now work, so I am quite familiar with the roads, having run on all of them before, some of them many many times.

After an awesome rendition of the national anthem, we were on our way!

Miles 1-3: 8:22, 8:00, 7:48

Not much going on these miles.  First one a little slow due to crowds, but I got on pace after that.  22 seconds off with 12.1 to go = no big deal.

Miles 4-6: 8:08, 8:03, 7:56

Somewhere around mile 4 I started chatting with a guy next to me (I know, I know, bad idea).  I saw from his hat that he was a member of a running club that I recently joined, so we were talking a little about that.  We were staying on pace, but after a bit he was like “I can’t hold this, you go ahead and have a great race!”  That was super nice and helped me and I told him to have a great one too.

Miles 7-9: 8:02, 8:00, 7:57

I crossed the 10k timing mat just a few seconds after 50 minutes, so I was doing pretty well.  Took some Gatorade in mile 7 that was so, so sweet.  I don’t know if it was mixed too strong or my tastebuds were just off, but I was just like “WHOA!”.  One sip was plenty, haha.  Around this time I was starting to get the first bit of whining from my legs.  I had not raced a half in 2 years, so yesterday I had reviewed my race report from the last one I did (aforementioned 1:56 PR in which I ran very even splits), which had this nugget of wisdom in it: “ I remember thinking that my pace was right on the edge between comfortable and pushing.”.  So today, I tried to keep that in mind, but I did feel that my pace was slightly over that line into the pushing side.  Not great, but I thought I had to at least try to hang on; no sense in proactively backing off.

Around mile 8.5 was a steep downhill and a right turn into a park; or so I thought. The course had us going left.  This really threw me; did they make a mistake?  Are we going to end up running long?  Crap…I told myself to calm down, that they must have tweaked it a little, and just need to follow the people in front of me.  Normally I wouldn’t really know a race course in great detail, but this was my home turf so I definitely knew it.

Miles 10-12: 8:19, 8:24, 8:46

(oof)  Yeah, I was clearly starting to slip.  And I was getting so confused, because the out-and-back we had in miles 10 and 11 seemed much, much longer than I remembered from two years ago.  My brain was screaming “this course is going to be too long, unless they chop off something later!”.  And then I kept telling myself it doesn’t matter, just RUN, jeez.  I paused for about 10 seconds in mile 12 to stretch my calves, which were feeling really tight.  I knew my 8:00 average wasn’t going to happen but I still wanted to finish as best I could.

Mile 13 and change: 8:59, 1:57 (for 0.24 miles)

This course is cruel, because it takes you within about 0.4 miles of the finish line, but makes you swing into and around a small park for another mile first.  I knew that and I had even practiced repeats at race pace on this stretch because it is so hard mentally.  So we entered the park, and I quickly noticed that the road was split, with faster runners returning on the other side.  Huh?!  That’s not right, it’s supposed to be a big loop.  Well, the course was changed to another out-and-back instead.  That lopped off the extra distance I was worried about, and it was a good mental boost to know that we did not have to go all the way around the park as I had expected.  Cool, I’m closer than I thought to the finish.  I was really hanging on for dear life by now, and finally exited the park and tried to pick up the pace a little for the last straightaway.

Final time: 1:48:40.  It is a big PR, so I can’t be too disappointed, but I do wish I’d been able to hold onto the 8:00 pace.  I am thrilled that I ran that fast for the first 9 at least.  And I am no worse off for having tried.

So, that is quite enough of that.  I’ll take 10-14 days to recover, and then I am all in on the shorter distances for the rest of the year.  I will have to majorly change gears, as I have a mile race on June 6 that I am insanely excited about (I have never raced the mile before!).  And I’ll no doubt be racing some 5ks since they are my favorite distance.

Thanks for reading!

Good job on the PR.  It always feels good to see the progress.

Have you checked the website to see if they announced the change in the course ahead of time or was it a last minute change?

Excellent finish time! Congratulations!

Typical hard last third of the race. Congrats for hanging in there with all the wild thoughts going through your head

Yep. Those last 3-4 miles of a half marathon are tough. Those those out-and-back add ons certainly wouldn't help!

Congrats on the big PR!

So, that is quite enough of that.

I love the way you put that. lol

Congrats on getting that PR and working towards your goal all winter!  Good luck on your shorter distances!

That's a massive PR.  Congrats!

Dang, nice race!! You give me hope - our short distance PRs are very similar and I'm shooting for 1:50 in a month.