Popped a gel about 10 minutes prior to official start time. As our corral started moving to the start line, it dawned on me that hitting the port-a-john might be a good thing. So, I hopped out of the herd and made a hard left over to the line of johns near the start line; this turned out to be a very smart move. After taking care of last-minute business, it was time to go for a little run.

This was my first 1/2 and my longest run ever and in light of my low run volume during the past several months and especially the last few weeks, I was *very* pleased with how things turned out. Sure, a sub-2 hr 1/2 would've been nice, but this was also not a completely realistic expectation. Erring on the side of caution, I started conservatively and ended up finding a pace that worked for pretty much the entire run. There were a few stretches between Mile 5 and Mile 10 where things felt really nice and I contemplated picking up the pace quite a bit. BUT...knowing the last few miles included some "fun" rollers/hills helped me keep things in perspective and stick with the pace at hand. I was VERY pleased with myself for exercising this discipline; otherwise, I'd probably have 'sploded before finishing.

CV-wise I felt good the entire run and my legs/knees felt solid as well. Honestly, I couldn't have asked for much more.

By the way, did that last 1.1 miles seem long or was it just me?


Nothing. Based upon training volume levels, never having run a 1/2, etc., I ran "smart."

After getting medal, mylar blanket, being de-chipped, and grabbing some nourishment, I stood in line to retrieve my bag. Once bag was in hand, I changed into some dry, warm clothes and hung with the NAMC crew until the decision was made to head to MARTA for the trek back to the cars.


Plain and simple...more training.


Again, as this was my first 1/2 period, I had no basis of comparison; but, everything seemed to run pretty smoothly - especially in light of last-minute changes to Start/Finish area due to the tornado that hit downtown Atlanta. It was a bit crazy trying to get to the start corrals and if I could make one suggestion it would be make the mile markers more visible. If they're placed higher (on posts) or marked with balloons, it would help people get some data for post-race analysis. Overall, though, it was a great experience. Lots of volunteers, the cheering sections on the course were nice, and it was cool sharing the course with so many like-minded people.