Mississippi Blues Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

I trained with a 7:30 pace in mind which was, at the time, not too fast but not too conservative either. Somewhere in between, I guess. The general plan was to stay at, or just slower than, the goal pace and pick it up as the race went on if I felt good.

The first 3 to 4 miles in I was feeling good. Great, even. Since the race starts hilly my splits were kind of sporadic here. It took a while to "settle in."

After a couple miles I spotted some runners I recognized from the 5k and 10k races around the area and decided to stick with them since I've always wondered what times they put up in races like this. Mind you, I've never actually had a coversation with these guys so I just followed them and didn't say hi or anything. Plus, I figured they'd help me hit more consistent splits.

My nutrition plan was to hit some aid stations for water/Gatorade and use the Power Gel I carried around mile 7, 8 or 9 depending on how I was feeing. About mile 4 I grabbed a water and spilled most of it all over me. Awesome. I was hoping this wasn't a sign of things to come at other stations.

Paces for 1-4: 7:44, 7:08, 7:19, 7:30

The next few miles have some small hills but one rather long one along the highway. I kept pace with the runners I mentioned earlier but I could tell I was getting the itch to go faster once we passed the long hill. Around mile 7 I hit the gas a little and passed them. I figured if I could hold this pace then I'll easily hit my goal of about 1:38. At mile 8 or so I slammed a gel and grabbed a water at an aid station and luckily didn't spill it on me. Most notable part of this section: the rooster cocka-doodle-dooing on someone's front porch. I love Mississippi.

Paces for 5-9: 7:20, 7:26, 7:20, 7:19, 7:09.

I knew that I'd want to push the last 5k hard so I made sure during mile 10 not to push it yet and burn out. My heart rate was firmly established in the 170s at this point. I wasn't at my LT yet and figured it was just a matter of time till I got there.

A little after I passed JSU I started to pick it up. The band playing in the roundabout there was a great motivator. I was plowing along and passed a few more runners when I hit Capitol St. I thought the finish line wasn't far, after all, the finish line IS on Capitol St. However, if I had paid any attention to my Garmin at all I would've known how far I had left to go. I clearly thought that street was shorter than it was but I was at the point of no return, I couldn't let my last push fall short. The last 5k were in about 21 min with the last 2 miles much faster than the rest of the race.

Paces for 10-13.1: 7:18, 7:10, 6:56, 6:19, 6:13 (the last 0.1).

And just like that, it was over. A new PR and a better-than-predicted time. Yay me.

Just like last year I think I paced too conservatively early on. If I was hitting my 5k pace the last mile then maybe there was too much gas left in the tank. Start out faster, settle in, then push - that's my plan for the next 13.1. Whenever that is.

Walked around, drank some water, stretched lightly. No jogging. Cheered on Mary at the finish. She did great on the limited time she had to train. I'm proud of her.


Being afraid of blowing up early. I need to be more generous with the throttle early on, maybe right from the get-go. Maybe.


I did the half in 2011 and just like then the race was very well organized and very well staffed. Post race was great, too. The finisher's chute has plenty of space to cheer people on. The course is awesome and the atmosphere is cool. I'll probably do it again next year, too. And it might even be the full.