Thrill in the Hills - RunHalf Marathon

This was my first Half Mary and I had been following a good program for about 10 weeks, with only one run missed all winter so far (3 runs per week). The training plan was built around a 2-hour pace and I was working up to that very nicely. Having done a shorter trail run back in the fall, I realized that trail pace is a good bit slower than street pace, so I figured I could maybe do about 2:10. But with all the rain, mud, and water on the course today I knew it would be even slower, so I just decided to try to finish without injury.

With only a watch, it was hard to check splits with no mileage markers on the course. The water stops were approx. 4, 7, and 10 miles so that was the only way to check pace. The hills were really just kind of short rollers, nothing too steep, except when we had to run under the power lines in maybe 3 or 4 places - those were pretty steep. I slowed down a bit at the 3 water stops, making sure to drink a full cup before resuming pace. You really had to concentrate on your footing and I found it helpful to stay within view of the person in front of me to try to learn from their steps. For maybe the first half I tried to avoid many of the puddles but by the end I was just splashing right through them since I was pretty much saturated at that point.

Obviously it was a challenging day at the races, but to complete the distance for the first time under adverse conditions made it all the more satisfying.

Not much - maybe leave the windbreaker in the car - I had to tie it around my waist after about 4 miles because I was too hot and it was soaked through anyway. Just happy to finish this one.

More like cool-down. After about 5 minutes of water, gatorade, and bananas, I was starting to shiver. Checked the preliminary results which had been printed out, tried to hose off my mud-splattered legs, then went to the car to change.


Mud. Rain. Puddles.


A good event despite the poor weather. Would like to try it again next year on a nice clear day.