Using this race to test my fitness and my race strategy for the half-marathon. My plan was to start conservatively at just over 8:00/ mi and run negative splits to the end.

First mile was crazy as 5k and 10k runners and walkers all cattled up together. I stood in the back without fear because there was chip timing. Kissed the wife for luck and moved toward the line. I spent this first mile moving through the crowd and figured out that I should have started more toward the front. My pace was right on however and I felt good.

After mile one, we turned up a challenging hill that hurt. I let the hill win and cut my pace to probably 10-11 min. per mile. I really wanted to keep my HR below LT, more in Z3 if I can. Seemed to do pretty well and even passed some people. We were only 1.5 miles in, no need to burn out.

The following miles kind of blur together. I kept spotting what Spokes calls "ponytails" even though some of them had short hair. I would move from one to the other, slowly overtaking them and using them as un-official pacers.

At mile 4, I consciously tried to increase my stride length and speed and did so with much success. I followed this until a couple of killer rises led me to mind my HR and keep it below LT. I didn't want to lactic until about 1-1.25 miles out.

At the 5 mile mark, I had one last hill to try to top so I didn't start my "kick" until I was atop that climb. About a quarter mile later, we turned onto a massive downhill and I just went with the flow. That left me about 1 mile left to push. A couple of turns later and I was looking at the last stretch to the finish. Great long view and a flat finish allowed me to drop the hammer, get up on my toes, and really push.

Along the way, I made sure to thank all the police who were directing traffic as well as the bands, spectators, and volunteers. It's so great to have all these people willing to give their time so that about 1000 of us crazies can push ourselves. These volunteers allow us to celebrate our freedom on this Independence Day.

Nothing. I ran a good strategy and my 8:00 pace will give me a 1:45 half marathon in October. It was surprisingly easy to hold that pace for this race, which is just about half of my half. With more training, I feel confident that I can hold that pace for my half and accomplish my goal.

Stood around with Sara, A, and J and just kibbutzed and chatted about their races. Sara and A ran together and just had a fun run. Sara could have run harder but her goal was to run the distance without stopping, which she did. I drank some water and then made for the car to head to DeWitt for the parade.


Just my weight. My training seems to be on track and I'm happy with my mileages and efforts. Just have to keep working on the waistline


Lots of scrambling at Race minus 60 minutes and some technical difficulties made stuff seem a bit disorganized. Plus, I couldn't find a map of the race route ANYEHERE on the internet so I had no idea where to even do a route recon. Very mediocre race.