Atlanta Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

It poured rain on this run more than three times. My injured knee hurt but was not unbearable. Unfortunately, the bruise on that knee (impact injury, not running-related) and my IT band were very uncomfortable.

I came out well in the first mile (7:54) despite the weaving in and out of other runners trying to find my space. My IT band began to act up in mile 2 (8:24). Miles 3 and 4 were approx 9 mins as I tried to take smaller and lower steps. I ran with a nice man named Phillip who is thinking about starting triathlons. He just graduated from Auburn and is a biker. I told him all about the greatness of BT. I had to let him go when the knees required a stretch. Too bad because he was a nice fellow and didn't mind chatting.

I started to feel better in miles 5-7 but had to stop and stretch several times. In mile 8, I had to visit another potty (10:23) and took my Cliff shot. I rallied from the pain in mile 9 (9:57) when my gel kicked in and my good tunes came on the i-pod (Foo Fighters). I chatted with another guy in miles 10/11 (9:12 and 9:34). He was doing this run as a tune-up for the Arizona marathon and thought I was a big idiot when I explained that my secret method for weight loss was to train for a triathlon. It is quite possible that he sped up just to be rid of me. Too bad for him.

I still hurt but was able to turn it up for the finish. Mile 12 was 8:51 and Mile 13 was 7:54. That last bit was at 7:04 pace as I sprinted for the finish.

The rain was not horrible because it was reasonably warm (61 at the finish) but it kept me soaked for the whole race.

Bag the run if I am injured. Other than the first mile and that small stretch in miles 8/9, this whole race was painful and unpleasant.

Also bag the run if my training has been impeded. The injury has kept me from running any distance for the last three weeks.

Wear tights to keep my legs warm, even if they feel too warm. I think the cold rain caused my muscles to tighten so that the IT was irritated because it hasn't hurt me on a run nearly a year.

Hobbled to the water tables and grabbed a cup of Powerade and water. Found Doug on the way to the car and Nat called us while we were changing clothes. We shivered all the way home as the temperatures were dropping.


Stupid knees. These are my limiter. I was OK for the whole race cardiovascularly so I need to work on increasing my mileage even more slowly than I have been doing before.

Gap in my training this past month.


This was a fun race and I will definitely do it again if it isn't raining. No one needs post-race activities on Thanksgiving because we all have one already.

The good part of my race is that it solidified my sinking feeling that a whole marathon is not going to happen for me this year. My knees need another year (or so) to build. I'm disappointed in this, but glad to have been able to come to a decision. Now I can concentrate on building my bike mileage on the prettier days and slowly slowly slowly increasing my run mileage.