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Comments: This was supposed to be a moderated effort race for me. I've really been focusing on my swim and bike this off-season, and I really had no reason to think I could challenge my PR (1:37:36). The plan was to go out easy (8:00-8:10 miles) and then see how I felt around the midway point. I started off on the right track, running 8:18 for the first mile, and then just under 8:00 for the second mile. Then I started pushing a bit without even realizing it. At the 5 mile point, after hitting 7:45 or so for 3 straight miles, my buddy told me to go ahead. As soon as I went off on my own, my whole mindset changed. We had been chatting away for the first 5 miles, and it was easier to just relax and take it easy. As soon as I was by myself, I entered race mode. I felt it happening, and was defenseless to stop it. The next mile was about 7:30, and I kept it around there or faster for the next 5 miles, with the only exception being mile 8 when I had to stop and pee (overhydrating FTL). I hit the 10 mile mark feeling as strong as I've ever felt late in a race. I knew I had tons left in the tank. I figured I'd already ruined my chances of it being an easy day, so I pushed....hard. Mile 11 was 7:08 and mile 12 was 7:05. I still felt great after that. I was absolutely befuddled at how great I felt. So screw it, I said...let's see what I can do. I did the last 1.1 at about a 6:30 pace. As you might imagine, I ended up having a pretty aggressive negative split, doing the first half in 51:21 and the second half in 47:57. Mile splits: 1 8:18.0 1.01 8:13 2 7:56.4 1.00 7:56 3 7:41.9 0.99 7:46 4 7:48.8 1.01 7:45 5 7:47.1 1.00 7:46 6 7:30.3 1.02 7:19 7 7:37.6 1.02 7:29 8 8:22.9 1.01 8:17 9 7:31.6 1.01 7:27 10 7:15.9 1.00 7:17 11 7:08.9 0.99 7:15 12 7:05.6 1.01 7:03 13 6:23.0 1.00 6:25 14 :51.8 0.15 5:51 What would you do differently?: Pick a strategy and stick with it. I really accomplished nothing with this race. If I thought the best thing was to stay within myself, then I should have done that. If I wanted to push, I could have evened out my splits and probably PR'd.  Post race
Warm down: My wife was watching both of the little ones by herself, so I didn't stick around for the post-race festivities. Once I had a bottle of water and my medal, I was out of there. What limited your ability to perform faster: I definitely drank too much before the race and early in the race. You should never have a pee break in a half marathon. I probably could have pushed through it, but at that point I was still in the mindset that this was a training race. Event comments: I really like this race. It's a wonderful start to the season for me. Last updated: 2013-04-15 12:00 AM
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United States
KC Running Company
37F / 3C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 258/4479
Age Group = M 30-34
Age Group Rank = 42/304
I woke up at about 5:15.
I waffled a bit regarding race apparel. The temperature was 37 at the start, and was supposed to climb into the low-to-mid 40's by the end, so I was trying to decide whether I wanted to be really cold at the start or a bit warm at the end. I finally settled on a lightweight compression top, singlet, shorts, lightweight knit gloves and a headband.
I ate a blueberry bagel and drank about 16 oz of Gatorade. I also had about 6-8 oz of coffee.
The clock in my car read straight-up 6:00 when I pulled out of the driveway. A little earlier than I would normally leave for a 7:30 AM start, but the parking for this race can fill up and I wanted to get a decent spot. I arrived at almost exactly 6:30. It was pretty chilly, so I hung out in my car for about 20 minutes before I made my way down to the start line.
I ran into a buddy of mine from college in the starting corral. He's a much better runner than me, but he doesn't like cold weather running and hasn't really been out at all the last few months. We both said we wanted to run about 8:00 miles at the outset, so we decided to stick together for a while.
About 30 minutes before the race I did about 3/4 of a mile at an easy pace. Had a GU about 15 minutes before the gun.