I originally signed up to run the full course and man I am glad I decided to run the 1/2 marathon. I ran the full marathon last year and really struggled finishing a little over 5 hours and in intense pain. My game plan entering the this run was to run hard and run fast and walk the aid stations. At the time this seemed like a good idea but once I was out on the run I didn't find any need to walk the aid stations. I haven't ran 13.1 miles in over a month and two weeks ago I was sick as a dog and spent 4 days laying in bed so I really had no idea what kind of pace I was looking to try and maintain. I wanted to start slow and go for a reverse split and pick it up towards the end. I was hoping to run the first 5k at a 9m pace and then slowly speed up from there.
At the starting line it was the typical June Gloom type weather, perfect for running's. I was in coral 12 and had to wait about 20-30 minutes before my coral was ready to rock. The countdown began from my coral and boom I was off, I jumped out fast trying to get a feel for how today was going to be. I only ran twice in the last 2 weeks and was concerned and really didn't know what to expect. My thought process was go out strong it's only 13.1 miles if I start to tire then I can just slow down. I hit the 5k mark at 27:20 at a 8:48 pace, I was pleased with my first 5k and I was hoping that I can keep my pace. My main goal for today's run was to completed it under 2 hours.
I started to run into heavy traffic and just wanted to get through the crowd without them slowing me down to back because I was still trucking and well under my 2 hr goal. I hit the 10k split at 54:32 and was feeling pretty confident. It was around this point that I knew that I was going to be just fine, just keep at this pace until the end and then turn up the heat. Running down the 163 is a trip, I am usually traveling 75 mph on it but today I am running on it. I passed these guys dressed up as Elvis and jamming out to their radio. It was great, oh did I mention each of them was drinking a Miller light..ha-ha that is the way to run.
I hit the 10 mile mark at 1hours and 27 minutes and knew I only had a 5k to go and it was time to give it a little extra. The course started to narrow but I knew it was my time and aimed for a 8 minutes pace the last 3.1 miles. Not only was I under a 8 minute mile the last 3.1 miles but I felt GREAT!!. I managed to pass a grip of runners near the finish line and crossed the line at 1 hour 52 minutes and 52 seconds, a good 7 minutes under my 2 hour goal. This was my first race at this distance and I really felt strong. I managed to finish 2002 out of 17,568 runners and 252 out of 1073 runners in my age group.
Here is the video from my race
