Notes
First ever half marathon. The weather was perfect with temps right around 40 at the start. Was going to race in my Piranhas but the upper inside of my left calf was really tender so I went with the Kinvaras. When the gun went off, I ran right behind the eventual 3rd place finisher. About 800m in, I could tell the pace was too fast, so I backed off into 3rd/4th with the eventual winner who asked me to help with the pace but I knew they were out of my league. Hit the mile in 5:19, which I knew was too fast. I knew I needed to slow down but I stayed in a rhythm. The rest of my miles were 5:18, 5:18, 5:19, 5:19, 5:17, 5:24, 5:26, 5:24, 5:23, 5:24, 5:32, 6:12 (1.1). I struggled mentally from 7-10 because I knew I had a long way to go and I was starting to get tired. At 10 miles, I thought I had a shot at sub 1:10 but really didn't believe I would get it. The last two miles, I started wheezing (which I've never really done before), I was tired and just wanted to be finished. Once I hit the track for the final 200m, I felt a lot better but just jogged it in. Afterward, I was pretty tired and had to sit down for a couple of minutes. My calves were the only thing really bugging me. After Moon Pie, I was absolutely trashed but I felt better here. During the race, my chronically tender right achilles hurt off-and-on and my right arch felt pretty tight for a few minutes. This race was tough because after the first half mile, I had no one to run with and it felt like a solo time trial. After about 3-4 miles I couldn't even see the top 3 anymore, so it was hard to push when I was tired. This is a good confidence builder for my marathon in eight weeks and I think 2:30 can now realistically be a possibility that I shoot for. I was really pleased with my effort because my main goal was sub 1:12 with my super goal being sub 1:11.
The main thing I need to work on is my drinking. I tried to drink one cup of water and sipped way too fast and thought I was going to get sick, so that was it for me.