Mississauga Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

Since this was my first half marathon I had these goals:
1) finish
2) try to do it under 2 hours.
I started out well and for the first 5km I was running just over a 5 min pace. I was nervous that I was going to fast so I slowed it down to a 5:50-6:00 pace for a few more km's. I felt good up until the 10km mark. There was a slight incline that caused my HR to increase and my pace slowed down considerably. It took about 1 km to recover and I was back on track.
I drank water at the aid stations and had my fuel belt when I felt I needed extra water.
I planned that around the 19 km mark I would pick up my pace and try to run just over 5:00min/km. As soon as I tried to do that my right upper calf muscle said NO!
I slowed it down to try to recover. Felt ok so at the 20 km mark I tried to pick up the pace and thats when every leg muscle said NO! I began to crap up in my quads and calves in both legs. I ended up running 6min for the last km.
I ended up in a time of 2:01:59. 2 mins shorts of my second goal.
Overall i'm happy just to have finished. Loved the support my wife and son showed me at the beginning and end.

1)Train harder/longer. I only did 1 long slow pace run 3 weeks prior and it was only around 18-19km's. Next time I feel as though i should train to do 24 and still have some gas left in the tank.
2)Try my best not to get sick 2 weeks prior to the race.
3) Drink more to prevent cramping.

Took my post race photo and grabbed a bunch of gatorade and water.
Lineup was too long for bananas and whatever other food they had.
THANKFULLY my wife got my a cheese croissant.


Cramps towards the end of the race.


This was my first half marathon. Just like duathlons i'm HOOKED! I'll be planning on doing another one at the end of the season in September and possibly this one again next year.