Atlanta Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

Lined up at the start and realized that my Garmin had a low battery. DOH!!! Since it had been charging for several days, I set it out with my Fuel Belt (not on the charger) so I wouldn't forget it. Well I guess that was an issue. I kept trying to turn it on, but it kept shutting off. I finally accepted the fact that I would be watchless, timeless & paceless for the race. I felt a little anxious, but just didn't stress b/c there was nothing I could do.

The race starts and it's a little crowded, but nothing too bad. I find a good pace and just stick with it. It started to rain sometime during mile 2 or so...yuck. I kinda worry that my feet will get sloshy, but there's nt much I can do...so I just carry on. I really knew the route since it went in front of my old house and since it's the same as the Peachtree RR course. It helped a lot since I knew what to expect. We got into Buckhead and my 5 mile time was around 47:30- pretty fast for me. But I still felt good, so I didn't slow down really. I guess it was around mile 6 that I walked for the first time...but only through the aid station and so I could Gu. Miles 7-10 passed pretty quickly, it continued to rain on and off but it wasn't too bad and my feet still felt dry- MY SOCKS ROCK! I was still running about 95% of the time and only walking on the bigger hills. Mile 10 or 11, my left knee kinda felt achy, but it went away pretty quickly. It was mile 12 that I began to feel pretty tired but I knew I didn't have much longer. I walked a few more times on some hills...especially the one leading to the state capitol- that one kinda sucked. Luckily, I knew that hill was really close to the finish, and I finished off pretty strong...not a full sprint, but a steady run. My legs by now were pretty tired and kinda numb from the rain & cool temps so I was happy to be done. The funny thing about this race was I really had no reliable way to know my time the entire race.

1. wear the Garmin AND my Polar watch so I have a backup watch
2. continue to build my run base
3. work on hills for more endurance

Stood around in the rain and looked for Kraig for over an hour. Had his name called over the loudspeaker a few times. Finally changed into dry clothes and found a raincoat(a giant trash bag). FINALLY found Kraig about 1:20 after I'd finished. He was still looking for me to finish the race...I guess he missed me finishing!


Crappy weather and just the fact that it was my first half marathon.


I liked this race despite all of the negative things I heard. There were lots of people running, so there were always lots of people around. I would have liked to hear the race times called more often, but that wouldn't have been an issue if my watch worked. Pretty good crowd support considering it was rainy and a holiday.