My main goal was to keep the effort easy feeling, so I didn't blow up later. I didn't really pay attention to pace, just effort. We were rained on pretty steadily for the first few miles, so at least i didn't get overheated!

I did a tiny bit of walking in mile 2, which is a good incline to cross the Franklin Ave bridge. This is a rolling course, so I was usually able to recover on the downhills. I realized my watch was on autopause, so I wasn't able to slack the few times I walked. It was annoying to me at first, but then I realized it was a hell of a motivator! It only paused once, that first time when I noticed it.

Miles 4-7 are a steady incline with the big hill up to Summit around mile 5. I did have to walk a bit there, it was the smart thing to do for me.

I had pretty good spirits and just chugged along. I was averaging about 10:35 pace at the halfway point, so I figured a sub 1:50 was in the bag. As it turned out, I improved my pace with a negative split! Bob took pictures at a few places between 5-9 which distracted me a bit. My feet hurt after mile 7.

I have done this race, and run along this route, enough times to have a good feel for what's going to happen. I think that helps a lot when you're pacing on effort. All in all I am really proud of my execution. I had to keep it real, knowing my preparation has been FAR less than it should have been.

I generally really like this race and TCM as an organization. I do wish they would tighten up the finish line stuff. The food lines are too slow, they should box or bag the food like other big city races. The finish stuff is REALLY spread out, so you end up walking too much. I just don't think it's necessary.