I felt pretty good right out of the gate. Hopped into the porta-john about 100 yards after the start, but didn't lose much time. We started on a downhill (which meant an uphill at the finish...oh well), and I quickly found a rhythm. The only problem was I was trying a different strap for my knee, and I couldn't seem to get it adjusted right. The knee (patellar tendonitis) would tweak me a little every now and then, so I knew it would be a problem later. Also, as we started into the hilly portion of the course (which for the half marathoners was 90% of the course), I realized it was actually hillier than I anticipated and so figured if I could run the same time as last month, that would be good enough. Especially given that my training had been lackluster, at best, of late. I managed to find a nice, consistent pace that seemed to be just under 10 min/mile. Around 5-7 miles, I caught up and passed some of my friends (a few who were doing the full marathon). I reached 7 miles in 1:09 and figured if I kept the same pace, I could finish around 2:08-2:09ish. After that, though, my knee started to bother me and I kept stopping to adjust the strap. I was definitely losing time. Around 10 miles, I noticed that my quads were hurting (all those hills)...but that told me I was working hard. The half marathoners got to turn around and head for the finish just after 11 miles, and right about then was when the knee became quite uncooperative. It specifically didn't like the hills. The problem was it was all hills. I ended up walking quite a bit and only managed to limp in at the end because it hurt pretty bad. Still, all in all, I was okay with my effort, and I was pleased that I pushed myself (even though it was doggone slow).

Not have patellar tendonitis. Wear the right knee strap, if I did. And maintain consistency in my training so I could do the full marathon as originally planned.

Stood in line to get my picture taken. I never get these pictures, but figured, "what the heck."


Sore knee. Inconsistent training. Challenging hills.


I thought this was a good race for the first year. I only wished there was more music on the course. I hope this becomes a great success for Mississippi because it was well done, the course was hard but good, and the weather was good.