Rock the Parkway Half Marathon - Run

I lined up between the 1:40 and 1:45 pace groups. The plan was to hang in between those groups and just see what nature gives me that day. I had a pretty good first half, was just under 8 min/mile pace up to about the 7 mile mark but that's about when fatigue started to set in. I knew right there that I wouldn't be chasing down the 1:40 group so I decided to keep an honest pace and not overdue it since I still had a bunch of miles to go. My longest run for the year was 10 miles about 3 weeks prior and I had only run maybe 4 times since then.

My pace dropped off a bit over the next few miles, mainly due to the fact that I wasn't in great HM shape and in part due to the few gradual climbs. I took in a small drink of gatorade at all but one of the aid stations, the cool temps made hydration less of a priority. I didn't eat anything in the morning so I just took in the gatorade for a little electrolytes and whatever small energy boost it might have supplied.

As I approached the last mile I could hear the finish line. From there it was a downhill finish. I caught up to one of the 1:45 pacers who I was pretty sure I knew but I don't think we every formally met. She had passed me two years ago in my one and only trail race and she had her dog with her. I told her I had been chicked, geezered, youthed before in races but that was the first time I had been "rovered". She was encouraging other runners to finish strong as we approached the finish line. Even though I ran with her and chit-chatted a bit that still managed to be my fastest mile split of the day, after all, it was a downhill finish.

A couple other of my friend were running that day but there were so many people there I never saw them (not to mention they were much faster than I).


Lap Dist. Time Pace Gap HR
1 1.00 mi 7:55 7:55 /mi 7:48 /mi 140 bpm
2 1.00 mi 8:04 8:04 /mi 7:43 /mi 151 bpm
3 1.00 mi 8:03 8:03 /mi 7:45 /mi 153 bpm
4 1.00 mi 7:43 7:43 /mi 7:52 /mi 152 bpm
5 1.00 mi 7:51 7:51 /mi 7:51 /mi 153 bpm
6 1.00 mi 7:56 7:56 /mi 7:59 /mi 152 bpm
7 1.00 mi 7:59 7:59 /mi 8:00 /mi 152 bpm
8 1.00 mi 8:21 8:21 /mi 7:59 /mi 153 bpm
9 1.00 mi 8:09 8:09 /mi 8:05 /mi 155 bpm
10 1.00 mi 7:58 7:58 /mi 8:00 /mi 158 bpm
11 1.00 mi 8:21 8:21 /mi 8:16 /mi 156 bpm
12 1.00 mi 8:17 8:17 /mi 8:17 /mi 156 bpm
13 1.00 mi 7:37 7:37 /mi 7:56 /mi 160 bpm
14 0.14 mi 1:05 7:40 /mi 7:48 /mi 163 bpm


Uh, train more, maybe drop down the the 5K LOL

Walked around, got my chocolate milk, thought about getting a massage but the line was long and I didn't want to wait there in the the cold.


Lack of training.


This is a great race. Very organized and well supported both pre-race and during. They had shirts at the expo that had all the pre-registered names on them for $20. The shirts that came with your race registration were a dry-fit tech style, the promo shirts were a cotton/poly blend you could wear anytime which was pretty cool. This is a great race for anyone wishing to travel to K.C. for.