Wanted to start out slow and speed up as the miles went on. Didn't really work out that way.

I took it easy up the hills and made up some time on the downhills. It's not a hilly course, but it does have a few inclines on it.

Took gels at :30, 1:00, 1:30.

I wanted to try to shoot for 2:06. 2:11 is my best half marathon time. I really wanted to try to run a 9:30 minute mile (mm) or faster.

The miles flew by and I focused on my time and distance. I had a goal in mind- 2:11 or better. Although I knew early on my 2:06 goal wasn't going to happen. I had some heaviness in my legs after mile 6 and I was struggling to keep it below a 10:00 mm.

The crowds are great on the course! Spectators everywhere! They line the entire course. It's awesome!

Having all the runners around you is fun too. Yes, it can annoying, but since they started us in corrals based on our projected finish times, I was around people generally running the same speed.

It's really cool running down streets I ride my bike or drive my car on... and seeing all 3 lanes filled with runners. Just a sea of runners. Really cool. I think if I did the marathon someday, the crowds alone would help carry me to a strong finish.

I kept a steady pace (see mile splits below) up until mile 9. Then I stopped to use the restroom. I found a port-o-john w/tp and no wait. I was dying so I went for it. That killed my per minute mile for that one.

This year the half mary had a diff finish from the full mary. Our finish was on the Katy Trail and all downhill. I knew I could finish strong because at the US Open I remembered how it was all downhill the last 3 miles of running.

So I sprinted my butt off the last couple of miles- as I had planned. When I saw someone walking, I would yell out, "Finish strong! Last 2 miles! All downhill! Let's go!"

My Garmin was off the whole race and was registering miles before the mile markers so I wasn't 100% sure when I would cross the finish line distance wise. Then all of a sudden I saw the finish line and sprinted as hard as I could. I'm pretty sure this is why Sabrina missed seeing me finish. Since I was in a crowd and focused on finishing fast.

When I stopped, I could hardly catch my breath. I was breathing really hard and almost couldn't catch my breath. I was walking with a stagger and everything started to hurt immediately.

I then got my finisher's medal, finisher's shirt and wandered over to our meeting spot.

Jonny showed up shortly thereafter. He had a great race and PRed his half mary big time! Great job sweetie!

We found Tim and Sabrina (and their friend Stephen) and we all headed out to eat lunch. :)

Now, I'm just really, really sore. I'm shocked how sore I am.

Splits:
I am pretty impressed with my ability to keep a solid pace.
1- 9:40 mm
2- 9:39 mm
3- 9:33 mm
4- 9:49 mm
5- 9:41 mm
6- 9:39 mm
7- 9:33 mm
8- 9:41 mm
9- 9:22 mm
10- 9:46 mm
11- 11:02 mm
12- 8:33 mm
13- 8:49 mm
0.25 - 8:13 mm

I guess I shouldn't have missed my last long run two weeks out from the race. I suspect I wouldn't be as sore had I done it.

Otherwise I had a solid race and did the best I could.

I wish there was a way to make my body NOT want to use the restroom when I run. That would be nice. Had I not stopped I would of made my goal of 2:06.

Overall this is a good race. If you want a HUGE race with lots of runners and spectators, this is it! It's also a relatively easy course (no too many hills!).

If you want food and water after the race- this is NOT your race. ;) All they had were cold, dry white bread bagels, bananas, oranges and some kind of mini food bar. Water was hard to find and when I finally got to it (after waiting in a LONG line) it was a sad little Dixie cup filled only 1/2 way. Same for the Gatorade. I can't imagine running a marathon and that being the beverage offering.

The course overall was good. I haven't run it previous years though. But I have no complaints about the course I ran this year.

After race activities were fine. A band, some beer, and the really long lines for food and sprinkle of water.

While I know keeping crowd control for that many runners and spectators must be very hard, they made it really inconvenient for the spectators to watch and find their runners. It took Tim and Sabrina a lot of extra walking to get around from point A to point B. They even commented how someone who is less than fit would have issues.

I enjoyed the race and will probably be back in 2011.