Marine Corp Historic Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

I had hoped for a faster race...by about 7 minutes. But being sick for 3 weeks and not running did nothing to help me get ready. Also, if you subtract my completely out-of-character 2 1/2 minute potty break, I really ran closer to 2:10. Still, I started out feeling rather good and found a nice pace that was just a skosh under 10 min/mile. The rain didn't bother me, and I managed the rolling course just fine. I got to see a lot of old friends and favorite places. Around mile 9, though, my legs were starting to feel heavy. I think I would have been fine (and around a 2:10-2:11 finish) if the course hadn't ended with a long, difficult uphill. That just ended up destroying what was left of my legs and and made the last mile point one a bit of a slog. Oh well. I enjoyed myself anyway.

Not be sick for most of the month before the race. Not do a 2-mile running time trial the week of the race. And not start a new functional strength training program 3 days before the race. My legs started out toasty.

Just wandered into the expo center to sit down for a bit. The wind had picked up and it was cool and rainy so I got stiff and chilled pretty quickly.


Because the hill at the end of the run is so tough, I really need to do regular, hard hill repeats in the weeks leading up to the race. Especially on tired legs. That had been my plan, but it got derailed by the cold-from-hell.


Rick Nealis, the race director for the Marine Corps Marathon and associate events, puts on a race to rival the Disney races. I'm not kidding. I would have liked to have seen more selection of food afterward...maybe something warm. The beer truck was too far away. And I really wanted a massage, but the line was too long. I guess I need to run faster.