Securian Frozen Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

I felt strong in the beginning. First two miles were sub 8 pace. My goal for the race was to average between 8 and 8:10 pace. Knew I was going a little fast, but felt very strong and decided to just go with it. Felt good for the first 4 miles. Mile 5 had a few rollers in it that drained a little energy from my legs but by the time I got to the turn around I was feeling good again. There were only two water stops along the course, one at mile 4 and one at mile 9. Brought two gu with me but didn't want a gu as early as mile 4 so just waited and had one right before the mile 9 water stop. I kind of wish there was one more water stop along the course but the weather for this race is almost always miserable so I'm sure its hard to find that many volunteers. The GU helped me through mile 9 and mile 10. The last few miles I was definitely cooked. Legs didn't feel like moving, I was getting cold because I was pretty much soaked with either sweat or rain (it rained for about 2 miles in the beginning) and the wind was coming at us. Managed to push it out the last 2 miles and not totally fall off. Pushed it up the really steep hill right before the finish and was glad to come in just a hair over 1:47.

Waited for my two friends who also ran to finish and then we headed to Longfellow Grill for breakfast where we stuffed our faces, yum! Oatmeal pancakes, sausage links, over medium eggs :)


The bitter cold and icy paths/roads made the last few weeks of my training a little sketchy but managed to pull it together for a fairly good race.


This is the third time I've done this race and I get a little faster each time.
2006: 1:47:45 (8:14 pace)
2007: 1:47:15 (8:12 pace)
2010: 1:47:01 (8:10 pace)

My goal is to break 1:45 in the half marathon some day. But to do that I definitely need to pick a race that is not in the middle of January in St Paul minnesota :) I think I could do it in a fall half marathon where I train hard/consistently all summer.