Notes
The weather turned out pretty much perfect-it looked like it might rain a bit at the starting line, but it never did. I wore my runningahead.com tshirt, compression shirt, shorts, and gloves. I had to take the gloves off after a few miles and my shirt was soaked with sweat. I think it was probably around 50ish, maybe more, maybe less.
I had 3 water stops, and took in one power gel. Next time I'd probably take in two power gels, as I didn't have any issues with it and I think I got a boost from it. I'd take the 2nd one around 9-10 miles next time. This one was around 6-8, I can't remember exactly.
The course was more undulating than I remember it-really not a lot of flat ground and a lot of long up or downhills (nothing too severe though). The last up hill at the end was a killer. I run a lot of hills as much normal running routine, but need to actually add some hill workouts (haven't done any yet).
Despite the really uneven splits, I was pretty happy with my pacing. My first mile was too slow as I wasn't properly warmed up and started too far back, but it worked out well. The hills really made it difficult to run even splits. I wish I'd been able to keep closer to 7 mins for the last 3 miles, though.
This was a PR by 1:13, and was nearly 5 minutes faster than the long beach HM, which was just three months ago, so I'm very happy with the time. My training has been way better and I'm quite a bit lighter than I was for LB.
By the end of the race, my hips had really become a limiting factor-leg turnover was becoming a real problem. Need to figure out how to strengthen/loosen them up.
Note about splits:
Garmin calculated distance at 13.29, so average pace was 7:06, which makes more sense with numbers below.
Splits:
7:16
6:39
7:01
7:10
6:54
7:07
7:11
6:58
7:05
7:07
7:14
7:12
7:22
2:05 (last .29 miles)=7:09 pace
finish: 1:34:29