Glass City Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

The race was definitely a tale of 2 halves. The 1st half went fairly well. Since the Half and full Marathons started together I was able to join in with the 8m pace group. This helped keep on pace without having to check my watch all the time. All I had to do was keep the guy with the sign in site. This worked well for awhile, the only problems I would run into is when someone would get dropped from the main group and I wasn't paying attention. I would lend up running with the slower person. Held a solid pace going into the Wildwood metro park which is where the Half and full split off.
Shortly into the park was where the trouble began (and stayed). Around mile 6.5 my legs started to feel heavy but nothing to be concerned with. Mostly just part of pushing a pretty good pace.
At mile 7.5 was where the real fun began. While going around a turn that was not very sharp but enough to change direction pretty quickly I felt a sharp pinch in the back of my leg right in the middle of my Hamstring. It was a pretty heavy pinch, almost like someone reached out grabbed a piece of meat and twisted. The pain was enough to make me hop a couple times before I got back into stride. The pinch stayed around for the next 1/2 mile and then turned into a dull pull. More like a feeling you would get after having a cramp and it releasing. This discomfort stayed with me for the remainder of the race and slowed me down quite a bit.
I think the hamstring issue became a big negative thought that I had to fight for the last 5 miles of the race. Throughout mile 8, 9 and 10 all I could think about was the leg. Mile 10 was the toughest, I stopped 3x to stretch it out. Stops were only brief but still enough to get into my head. I didn't want to have to stop on any part of this course but it is what it is.
After the 3rd stop I decided that I was going to run the remainder of the race and not stop. Figured if I was going to be in pain, I was going to be in pain for a reason! The only problem was I lost my momentum and it was tough to get moving again. Over the last 3 miles all of the effort was more mental than physicall. It seems once you make that 1st stop your mind makes it easier to keep stopping. I slowed a few times but never stopped. On the last mile the course turned off the bike path and went around the campus, this is where I ran into the infamous UT winds. It has been 16 years since I went to school at UT and I had forgotten what the wind was like on this end of campus. The last mile goes through the wide open section and it was all into the wide. Made for an enjoyable last mile, even with the wind I was able to pick-up pace some and finish the last mile at 8:22, this was the fastest mile since I felt the pinch in the hamstring

Not much, enjoyed the race and when I finished I felt I had given it everything I could

Pizza and Beer


Tweek to hamstring


I finished the race feeling a little down on myself. I felt that I had left something on the course and that I could have done better. I also felt that I may have failed myself mentally. After having to stop several times to stretch I let it become an excuse and it pulled me down for several miles. After going back through the race, I dont believe that is the case. I struggled with the hamstring tightness and still managed to get the last mile at a decent pace. What I thought was 10m pace didn't even make it into 9m pace. I am not sure yet if I have the mental toughness to make it through some of the endurance events, but I am definitely learning a lot about myself!