America's Finest City Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

First HM. Wanted to put in a good effort so that I can use as a baseline for an upcoming HIM.

Had read ealier about the heat and limited water from miles 4-8 so brought a water belt (3 8oz. bottles of gatorade, 1 gel flask w/ 3 gels). Temp this year must have been much less though as it was quite comfortable. I still liked having the belt and used the aid stations after mile 7 and on primarily to dump water on my head and have a few sips of something lighter, colder, and more refreshing than just the gatorade.

Even though I got to the start very early, I bumped into a friend and we ended up talking so I didn't seed myself near my estimated time. As a result, much of the first 3-4 miles was spent trying to catch up with people who were where I wanted to be.

Overall strategy was to take advantage of the downhill as much as possible and to cruise on the flats and then power up the hill with as much pain as possible.

Was going to try to do this with my HR monitor, but as soon as the race started it slipped down to my stomach and because of the water belt / crowds, I just decided to pay attention to those around me and go by perceived effort which seemed to work okay.

Decided to just monitor my cadence and maintained 88-90 through most of the race. Dropped into low 80's during the climb and then was able to get back in gear for the last bit of level ground to the finish.

Did feel myself fading a little toward the end. On the hill, it felt like there were more people passing me than I was passing .

At the mile 10 aid station, volunteers were handing out cheesburgers. They looked real good, but alas, was not in my nutrition plan and forged ahead.

The final sprint to the finish felt like a good effort. Afterwards, my legs were toasted and I needed to stretch/sit down for a while.

Get up to the front of the start earlier to try to minimize the dodging and manuevering.

Stretched, put ice on legs which really helped.


Starting pretty far back, but overall was not that big of deal. Made the beginning more interesting.


Overall, was a great race. Great temp and weather. Liked the downhill start to get warmed up and the challenge of the hill. Hope to do it again some year.