Palos Bank Southwest Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

This was my first half-mary. So my only goal was to finish. I was happy with my time and happy with hydration. The weather wasn't bad with the over cast skies and the 60ish degree weather.

Now according to my watch, garmin 405, I ended up doing 13.21 miles with minor zigzagging around people which actually put my pace at 7:44. The total climbing was around 1200 feet, so this really wasn't as flat as what it is made out to be. It is a fast course only because all the elevation changes are minor.

I started out with an 8:11 pace which was bad. I was planning on going out more towards an 8:30 but oh well. The next four miles were all right around a 7:55 pace +/- a second or two. That was bad at all and I was still feeling great. I was making sure to take a swig of water at every aid station which was about 1.5 miles apart. I then picked it up for the next four miles to a 7:38 pace +/- a second or two. This was a little harder for me to maintain but still do able. I think I should of stuck with the slightly slower pace. The last four miles were about a 7:30 pace +/- about 3 seconds or so. This was when it started becoming a mental battle. Since my longest run to date had been only 10.5 miles and I had started picking it up early in the race, I was really starting to feel it the last 2.5 miles at the end. But Overall, I crossed the finish line and completed it.

I will remember some body glide next time also. I had very minor chafing on my legs from my shorts. Nothing too serious. I also had a small blister only because of the way my toe turns and rubs against the one next to it and a small bleeding toe due to the same thing.

The big thing I should of done was get a run in that was greater than 10.5 miles. I tried to pick up my pace a little early which resulted in making the last 2.5 miles hurt a little more than I would of liked. I also think I might of tried a little more nutrition with gels, just to get myself ready for my half-ironman.

I walked around and talked for a while. Then went to panera bread for lunch. I stretch when I got home, went on a 30 min recovery ride and then stretched again.


The only limit for me was not a run specific training program and not tapering for the race at all. I still put in a high volume of training for the swim and bike and only taper my 3 runs for the week with 30 min active recovery runs. The saturday before I did a 30 min recovery ride and that was it. I also didn't run greater than 10.5 miles which I think hurt me a little too.


I only found apples and cookies at the end. I prefer a few more choices such as bananas after a race.