I started out trying to run well within myself, feeling relaxed. I didn't look at my watch for about 3 mins and my plan was to just run loose and then force myself to back off a little bit. When I took the first glance at my watch, it said 4:35/km - oops! I kept it relaxed and when the first km came up on the watch it was 4:45 - right where I figured it would be (but faster than my warmup for 1-2km plan...).

For the first 7-8 km, I just ran loose at an effort that felt quick but didn't feel like I was working hard. The km splits floated around high 4:3x/ low 4:4x with the exception of a 5:02 going up a tough hill. At the 7.5k mark there is a short out and back section for the half marathoners and it was around here that I started to pick up the pace a bit. I started passing a few people and by the 10k mark I caught and passed the last one in the group. This happened to be a friend of mine that recently ran a 3:27 marathon so I knew things were going well for me. The next person ahead of me at that point was a good 2-300 meters ahead. I went through the halfway mark in a little under 50 mins. By this point the weather had also gotten nasty, it started raining a bit around the 5k mark and by 10k it was raining and windy. I had given up trying to keep my feet dry by then as well. The roads were very slushy in the first loop. I had taken my hat and gloves off early in the run (before the rain started).

Since the next guy ahead of me was so far ahead I figured it was unlikely that I would catch him but I kept an eye on him just in case. I didn't seem to make up any ground over the next 3km but then we went through a long downhill section followed by a tough uphill and suddenly I seemed to have made up a lot of ground. Somewhere in here I noticed my hands were freezing and my fingers were so stiff I didn't think I would be able to get my gloves out of my pocket so I just carried on. At this point I also realized it was Greg that I was chasing, someone I am usually nowhere near in a run race. He beat my IMMT run time by almost an hour, running 3:52 in his first IM. I decided I would try to chase him down, hopefully catching him before the out and back section so he wouldn't see me coming. Unfortunately I didn't quite do so, I got within about 50 feet of him but when he saw me after the turnaround, he took off and I couldn't stay with him. He finished 37 seconds ahead of me in the end.

The last hill is in the final km of the race and it was brutal. The roads had become rivers from the rain and it was into the wind. I knew I was going to have a good time and I just gave it what I could to the end.

http://app.strava.com/activities/41287448


Catch Greg before the turnaround. I'm not sure it would have made much of a difference in the end but you never know.

I desperately wanted to get out of the rain so I just walked into the fitness center. They allowed us to use the facilities locker room and showers so I had a hot shower to try to warm up. It sorta helped - the chili and coffee after that helped more. :)


The weather and road conditions. I don't think it cost me a ton of time, maybe a minute or two at most.