I got downtown at about 6:40 and got in the potty line. That took about 15 minutes and then made my way over to the start. The plan was to start with the 2:30 pace group even though I knew that would be a little fast for me. I wanted to stay with them for the first 5 miles or so, try to keep them in sight for the next 5 miles and then get through the last 5k on my own. It turned out to be a pretty good plan. I was able to stick with them through almost the whole first 5 miles. After that I slowed down to a more normal pace for me.

I hadn't run this course before but I knew there were some hills. Turns out that there aren't too many flat places on this course. Most of the hills aren't steep, just really long. The downhills felt good though.

Around mile 7 or so is when the temperature started to get to me. It had been a little cool at the start but I knew as soon as the sun got up over the buildings it was going to get warm fast. I was carrying Gatorade with me, sipping on that for the first 6 miles or so and mostly skipping the water stations, but at that point I knew I needed water more than the Gatorade. So I stopped at one of the stations and refilled my bottle with just water. My pace had slowed to the mid-12's which is about right for me and I was feeling good. Around mile 9 I came upon my daughter and some of the members of her track team along with their coach who had come down to cheer on the runners. Gave her a high 5. I got so see them again around mile 10 since this was an out and back portion of the course. Having the girls cheer me and on and calling my name gave me a boost that I needed. I was still feeling good and still running for the most part at this point (a few short walk breaks on some of the longer hills), which I was very happy about. Only a 5k to go!

Mile 12 about did me in though. It was almost all uphill, into the sun, no shade at all. I admit I walked a good part of that mile. Once we finally got to the top of the hill though, it was downhill to the finish. Just a little over a mile to go. There was a short uphill to get to the finish line but not too bad. I picked up the pace again and crossed the line in 2:42:08. My previous PR for a half is 2:57:xx (on a flat course) and my goal for this race was 2:45 so I met my goal and got a new PR by 15 minutes!



Maybe a few longer training runs. My longest was 10 miles and that was about 3 weeks before the race.

I got my medal, grabbed a water and some food and went to find some shade. Spent a little time just cooling down and stretching then headed back to the Metro for the ride back to my car. Overall, this was a great run for me and my best half so far.



Plenty of volunteers and good crowd support through most of the race. Some of the water stations couldn't keep up with the number of runners though. It was a little warmer than expected so that probably didn't help.