This morning I ran the 7th annual Upper Cumberland Haunted Half.  I had ran this race twice before, but had a bad last several miles both times.  My half PR was so soft, I won't even say what it was.

I had an A goal of 1:53.  I thought that might be too aggressive, but I wasn't looking for an easy jog.

My pre-race supper was a large greek pizza from Papa John's (which mostly sucked), and a 20 oz glass of wine my brother made.  I got in bed later than normal, and slept/tossed/turned for about 5 hours.

It was an awesome 40F and clear as a bell at the start.  It was the best weather possible.  I jogged around about a mile to warmup.  I felt good, but was a little scared to be honest.  13 miles isn't intimidating anymore, but 13 miles hard is.

It was crowded at the start, and it took about a mile for it to thin out so I could find my groove.  I just focused on staying steady and trying to push myself but not too hard for the first few miles.  At mile 4 i did have to pitstop for the portajohn, but I tried to makeup the 30 secs I lost.  I nearly did, and the effort gave me the confidence to just run hard and see if I could hold out.

I got tired, but I hung in there.  After mile 9, I got a second or third wind.  I felt stronger, so I sped up.  I finished strong, and am happy as hell with my race.  Thanks to everyone for the advice, support, and well wishes.  I wanted to write a positive RR for you folks, and that thought fed my legs and mind at the end.

The splits

I think I'll run that full the end of February.  I almost feel like I could run it right now. Ha.

I think it takes some racing experience to get a good feel for just how hard you can push it in a half. But you did really good! Congrats!

I think it takes some racing experience to get a good feel for just how hard you can push it in a half. 

So much truth! I hope to find that someday....

But that's some great racing there! Excellent job. Certainly you feel much better finishing strong than fading. Mile 9 is around the time these usually start to get hard for me, so it was a good time to assess yourself to see how much extra you've got left.

Clearly all your massive mileage paid off. To me, for any race distance you should never go in intimidated by the distance, but you should always be a bit intimidated by the goal pace at that distance. Otherwise your goal pace may be too soft.

Anyway, I think you've got a lot more speed in you, especially if you wanted to do some more HM-focused training. Anxious to see what you do for your full!

Congratulations!  Well executed!  Very happy for you.

You trained very hard, and look at how it paid off! You were running faster than your goal pace, and had enough in the tank to pick it up at the end.

You do realize you have to adjust your expectations accordingly from now on 

Nicely done!  Impressive surge at the end, with all of the B&B chasing you.

My pre-race supper was a large greek pizza from Papa John's (which mostly sucked), and a 20 oz glass of wine my brother made. 

holy electrolytes batman, that's almost a full bottle. you might have gone sub-1:40 had you finished it.

congrats on smashing your goal.

Good job