OUC Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

I felt good the whole race. My goal was to run under 1:45. I would do this by keeping an 8:00 min/mile pace. I knew after the first mile which I ran at 7:48, that it should be a no problem. The first 8 miles were pretty effortless. I think I was around a 1:03 at 8 miles, so about a minute ahead of my goal pace. Mile 9 felt like one long hill. It wasn't steep, but there was definitely an incline. I think I ran right around an 8:00 mile for mile 9. This is where surpisingly, my wife came up on me. She was trying to run 8:15's and finish before 1:50. So, hearing her voice shocked me. She was doing great! We ran together for awhile and jokingly flirted with each other as if we didn't know each other. She ended up pulling ahead of me during that mile and stayed there for about a 1/2 mile when the road leveled out again where I returned the favor and passed her back. The rest of the race was smooth and steady. I started to get really hungry at around mile 11 or so, but it didn;t get too bad and I knew I would be finished in about 15 minutes or so, so I just pushed through. Hearing the crowd at the finish line was great as they were announcing the finisher's name as they crossed the line. They announced my name as I crossed at 1:43:17, then moments later they announced my wife's name. She only finished 5 seconds behind me. I beat my goal time...she shattered hers! This was my first 1/2 marathon. Had a great time even though there was some rain. I definitely have found another race to add to my resume. looking forward to Gasparilla in February and the Country Music in April. I'm considering doing the full at the Country Music, but I will be back into full tri training again by then, so I don;t know if I'll be ready. We'll see.


Nothing, except not wear a shirt. I thought the long sleeve tech shirt would be good since it was a little chilly with the rain, but the rain stopped for a little bit and I think the sun even peeked out for about 20 minutes during the race and I started to get a little hot. I don't know though, I may have been a little cold with no shirt.

Joints were hurting. I had to keep walking and stretching to keep them from getting worse. Went Christmas shopping later in the day which I think helped me not get so sore the day after.


Training. I have only been seriously running for about a year. It's been less than a year since my first ever 5k.


Great race. Great course, except for the few uneven brick roads.