Huge race. People around the whole time. This was a run to pace my sister through her first half marathon. Her training had been good, but she had not actually run more than 10.5 miles, so the end of the race would be new territory. Her goal was a 2:30, so I paced her at 11 min/mile forthe first 5 miles. Her friend, Bonnie, took off, but I made Anne-Marie stay with me (Bonnie ended up having a great race, but the pace would have been too fast for AM). She felt good after 5 miles, so we dropped the average down to a 10:50 min/mile pace. That worked, but maybe was a bit too aggressive. I should have paid more attention to actual pace rather than lap average (or hit my lap button) but I hate how Garmin's "actual" pace jumps around so much. I never really know what the pace is. Anyway, in the 8-9 mile range, it got kind of hard, and we had to slow down. There was a long gradual climb and then the jog through the parking lot to the stadium not so fun. (I thought the stadium was fun, though.) I was hoping AM would recover on the "downhill," but not so much. It didn't really feel like a down, anyway. Once we made the turn and were about .25 from the finish line, though, she put her head down and picked up the pace for a strong finish. And even though she struggled at the end, she still ended up 2 minutes below her goal.

I probably should have held the 11 min/mile pace...it might have made the last part easier.

Just water and sitting around for a while.


This one wasn't about fast; it was about getting my sister to the finish line.