I line up in corral 4 and I position myself toward the front of the corral. This was a wave start, so they would send off each corral about 1 minute apart. I noticed that the 1:45 pacer was in my corral so that was good because that was my goal time. When the gun went off for the 1st corral everyone shifted up to the next corral and I noticed that the 1:45 pacer jumped up a corral... I didnt want to start out a minute behind him, so I went ahead and jumped up a corral also so that I could when he did. So technically I left with corral 3 instead of 4, so shhh dont tell anyone.

I felt really good for the first 5k. I stayed pretty much with the 1:45 pacer and was about 15 seconds ahead of an 8min/mile pace. At the 10k mark I was 30 seconds ahead of my pace. I was feeling really good. I wanted to take a gel right then because that had been my plan, but the aid station wasnt until about mile 7 so I had to wait until i had some water to wash it down. In retrospect I should have checked the positioning of the aid stations a bit closer so I could have timed my fuel better with the aid station and practiced it that way in training.
By 15k I was back down to 15 seconds above pace but i thought i would be ok. That is when i fell apart
I started getting a horrible side cramp. I had experienced similar ones to this earlier in training, but they subsided after i concentrated on some core work. I backed off of the core work for the last couple of weeks and I wonder if that is why my side cramped. I dont know. I had to walk for about 30 seconds at that point and when I started again my quads were really tight and started cramp up a bit. I also started getting hot spots on my foot at mile 11. I ended up walking the aid stations for the rest of the run and did take a pee break at the second to last aid station.

I could have trained harder and smarter. I could have not let the holidays add a little weight to me. I could have fought through the pain and finished really close to my goal time. I am a bit disappointed in myself for that. I am happy that I broke 1:50 in my first half, but i do feel i could have done better

I walked around got the chip removed and my picture taken and ate a few snacks.. I stretch my quads and went to the family area to meet with the other peeps from Columbia that went down there with me


Inconsistant training, Holiday binging, and mental toughness.... I can work on all of those.


Overall it was pretty good. There was pretty good croud support and the bands were fun, although some were not that good. It was flat and fast and I would do it again