SONO Half Marathon - Run

Perfect weather for a race. My plan was to try to keep my pace semi-conservative for the first 6 miles through the hillier sections and then assess from there. I felt strong for the first few miles and was about on the pace I expected. I glanced at my HR and noticed it was a touch higher than I was expecting but I felt right where I wanted to be RPE-wise, so I ignored it.

Still felt great after mile 6 and was cruising. Another glance at the HR, showed high 170s which is usually more in line with my 10k HR. Hmm...still feel OK based on perceived effort, so I'll just ignore the HR a little while longer.

Miles 6 - 10 were more of the same. Cruising speed. The hill at mile 10 caught me a little by surprise. Surged over the hill and used the slight down-hill to recover. By the time I hit mile 11, I was feeling the hurt. This is when I really started to question the elevated HR and whether I could sustain until the finish. I thought back to my last 2 blow-ups and convinced myself with some positive to embrace the suffering and finish it out.

Mile 12 to finish were a struggle, but I knew it would be flat running. I was so happy to see the mile 13 marker. As I turned toward the finish I could see the clock and knew I would hit my sub 1:40 goal and beat my mental demons that wanted me to walk.



Ran this race to the best of my ability. Surprised myself with high HR. Looking at splits - looks like a slight negative split - I think in large part due to the hills at the beginning slowing my first half time down.

Great race! Well organized with volunteers and police manning intersections, plenty of aid stations, and a well-marked course. After the race they had Colony Pizza, ice cream, massages and other fun activities.