Heart Center of the Rockies - RunHalf Marathon

Drove up to Loveland with my coach and another one of her clients. Ate a bagel and banana on the way. We did packet pickup, hit the bathroom, and then tried to stay warm until the race started. As soon as the sun came out it was perfect race day weather.

Parking was in the south lot of the hospital. At 8:30 we all gathered in a group and they told us it was 1/2 mile walk to the starting line. I guess you could call that our warmup.

This was a small race but there was still a crowd to zigzag through until it broke up. This actually works well for me because it forces me to start slow. My ticker is a little more cooperative if I ease into the run. We looped around the natural area ponds and then went up a rocky little incline to get to the road. We headed north, then west, then south on county roads. The aroma of cows and manure stayed with us until we turned into Boyd Lake State Park.

I tried to find a pace I could handle and stick with it. This ended up being in the 9:30's. The course was mostly flat, a couple of small inclines, but no big hills. I asked one of the volunteers (mile 5) where the next port-a-john was and he informed me there were NO port-a-johns on the course. We were running along wide open farmland so this wasn't good news. I held on until mile 7 where I spotted a small bush. I'm sure I mooned a few racers but it sure beat the alternative. Same thing at mile 10. Gels at mile 5 and 9. My only fluid was water because the aid stations were passing out Heed and I've never used it and didn't want to risk something new on race day.

1-10m 04s/mile (nice slow start)
2-09m 40s/mile (easing into my pace)
3-09m 29s/mile (in the zone)
4-09m 31s/mile (in the zone)
5-09m 36s/mile (in the zone)
6-09m 35s/mile (in the zone)
7-11m 03s/mile (little incline and potty break)
8-09m 00s/mile (small descent ... loved it)
9-09m 46s/mile (another little incline)
10-11m 03s/mile (another potty break)
11-09m 33s/mile (back in the zone)
12-09m 40s/mile (starting to get tired)
13-09m 19s/mile (found me a rabbit to chase)

This was a no frills race. The high school kids had pancakes and fruit for us at the finish line. There was a decent amount raised for the medical center. I would have gladly switched out my t-shirt for a port-a-potty somewhere along the course. Otherwise it was perfect for my first half mary. It was small, mostly flat, and you couldn't beat the weather.