Gobbler Grind - RunHalf Marathon

Felt really good. I concentrated on slowing my pace early on and focusing on keeping a steady nine mile pace. They didn't line the runners up by pace 5min miles, 6min miles, etc. So we were all in one huge group fast and slow. When the gun went off and for the first couple of miles it was traffic traffic traffic. But looking back i think that was a good thing because it forced my pace to be slowed early on. It was bad when it came to the drink stations because you actually had to wait in line to get water. I ended up only stopping twice i think for water because i didn't want to waste the :30 sec- :60 sec to get the water. I kept watching the miles go by and I felt physically really good. I just had to keep my mind focused on the task at hand. During the race there were a few interesting sights. Four lady's running in prom dresses, a couple runners with feathers sticking out from their shorts (turkeys), one observer dressed as a turkey, but the most interesting was the barefoot runners. Yes that's right barefoot runners, two of them, full marathon. I had heard of these people but never actually seen them before. Bare feet, no socks, below 40 degrees, BRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!! About mile 9 I was still feeling good and started to get a little anxious about finishing the race. Started to pick it up a little through miles 9-11. Thinking i could hold that pace and still bring a little more in the last mile. About 11.5 in the fatigue hit and i had to slow it a little, i picked it up a little to soon and didn't finish as strong as i would have liked. I still felt 100 percent better in this run than i did in my first half. It turned out being a sunny day and a good run.

work on being patient, racing/pacing strategy

Was warm at the finish, but quickly got cold once body temp dropped and i was standing outside in sweaty running clothes. Had to wait for my friend to come pick me up, so i was kinda stuck, luckily the had warm coffee, so i drank lots of it.


water stations. Needed to drink more, but didn't want to waste the time. At the 10 mile marker they had GU, but they people with the gu were after the people with the water, if you didn't have a cup of water or if you had already downed it you didn't have anything to chase the gu with. I guess i should have paid better attention and grabbed some water, but it wasn't obvious at first that they had the gu either.


A few more volunteers at aid stations would have been nice, but i understand its probably hard to get volunteers to stand outside in teh cold.