It was cloudy and foggy and that made me feel concerned since I've trained in totally different conditions. Planned on a 9:10 minute mile to start the first 5k but that didn't work since my HR was climbing to low Z4 already at 9:25 pace so I just held on to that pace until 5k was completed.

After that I upped the pace to 9:10-9:15 minute miles and my HR went up close to threshold but was manageable. A runner I called Mr. Orange was just ahead of me and got some distance but the rubberband I attached to him never snapped. I actually passed him earlier but he repassed me shortly after. Felt a left side cramp starting to form so I eased my pace just enough to make it go away and it worked, whew! Stayed at this pace until mile 6 and upped my pace a bit to sub threshold pace sub 9:00 minutes miles.

Mr. Orange got some distance but I noticed his form falling apart and his pace started to fall off and I passed him at mile 8. By mile 10 I could tell things started getting a bit rough. My quads were starting to cramp a bit and worsened as time went on but not enough to make me give up but only slow down a bit. I looked at my virtual pacer and saw that I was still on pace to finish sub 2.

As mile 10 progressed onwards my legs and feet were starting to hurt and my HR was at threshold. My breathing was hard but controlled and my pace a bit slower. By mile 11.5-12 it was time to pull the trigger and go for a strong finish. No falling down, no puking, and I finished in 1:59:21, woohoo! After walking for several minutes I returned to the start line to get my finisher medal only to learn I won 2nd place overall and age group, woohoo!!!

Nothing.

Walked around, stretched, and took lotsa pics.


Fog and humidity.


Nice low key race on an open course. Not too many bikers around allowed me to run tangents. :)

Despite my successes achieved at this race I think I have to let this be my last half marathon (especially full marathon) due to how much damage this type of race distance inflicts on my feet. Hours after the race I noticed some bad black blisters on several toes and the nail in my toe next to my right pinky toe looks like it's about to fall off the the same foot's big toe after Ironman 70.3 Santa Cruz, ugh...

It may be possible my new shoes are too narrow to 1/2 size too small since they're 9.5s now vs size 10s used at and before IMAZ 2019? ;)