Initially, this was going to be my "A" Race of the Winter Running Season before I take it easy over the holidays. However, at the end of October, I got a bad flu, which lead to bronchitis and a sinus infection. That knocked me out for almost 2 weeks. Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of it because the lack of exercise, dehydration, and the antibiotics conspired to give me the most awful and severe gout attack ever - with my right foot getting swollen and pretty much being on crutches and limping for another week. No running (or swimming and very limited cycling) meant that I was going to lose a lot of fitness. My plan prior to my physical issues was to run close to my 10K pace from the Tour de Fleur (7:00/mile) and just keep going until I blew up and had to slow down. By the end of November, my goal became "Just Finish" as I didn't even know if I could race 13.1 miles with my longest training run in 5 weeks being about 8 miles at a very slow pace.

I got a week of training in prior to the race and decided I would try to at least match my first half marathon time (this same race last year) of about 1:45 which meant I had to pace just slightly below 8:00. I started there and started going a little faster depending on how I felt. My HR at a particular pace was around 8-10bpm faster than my best runs in October so I had to keep that in mind.

Mile 1-3.5 (first 5K) - I felt pretty good and was running around a 7:40 pace. I was feeling very confident and was holding a good pace and a pretty comfortable effort (no hard breathing and I knew I can hold this pace until the end of the race).

Mile 3.5 - 6.5 (next 5K) - I told myself not to get to excited and with changes in elevation (and noticing my HR creep up), I decided to be a bit conservative as I was feeling some slight soreness on my right leg/knee area. Nothing too bad until probably after the Mile 6 marker and the pain was becoming more of an intermittent sharp pain. This made me extremely worried and tried to focus on keeping good form. I took 2 Endurolyte capsules around 45 minutes in, and then right around 55 minutes, I also took a Hammer Gel. I did walk the 2 water stations were I took in the capsules and the gel to see if my right leg would feel better.

Mile 6.5-Mile 9 (next 5K or so) - This was the part where I thought I may be in trouble. After Mile 8, my right leg was feeling some pretty sharp pain and I decided to walk in fear of making the injury worse. I know lactate acid/muscle burn type of pain, and this was a more sinister joint type of pain. I walked for probably 90 seconds and felt my leg get better and thought that I'd try running with a different gait and see whether it helped. I consciously did a longer stride, landed closer to my mid-foot, and let the cadence drop a little. I noticed the pain didn't return and when I checked my Garmin at Mile 9, I was right around 1hr 10 minutes. I crossed the 15K mark at around 1:15 and I realized that I had a shot at a PR even with the unscheduled walking. I slowly ramped up speed to see if the pain would return but it stayed away.

Mile 9.5-finish (last 6K) - I told myself that I only had about a 5K left and I had to run it quick to PR so I opened up my stride and started pushing harder. With about 2 miles left, I then realized that I had a shot of getting to 1:40 (100 minutes) so I just went for it as I chased another runner. I was still worried about my leg so I didn't want to really go all out (visions of having to stop with a few hundred meters left came to mind) but just kept pushing a little bit more. I saw 1:39 on my watch with a few hundred meters remaining and when I crossed the line, I knew I was right at 1:40 as I stopped my watch a few seconds after crossing the line and it showed 1:40:14. A new Personal Record (and my 3rd in a row since my first half marathon last year)!

Get to train before the event. My lack of long runs the past 5 weeks hurt me. It would've been nice to get 2-3 more long runs before having to taper for the race. I also wished I knew I had a shot at breaking 100 minutes today as I would've gone a little bit faster to go under that time. I'm sure I could've found 8 seconds somewhere.

Also, not training (and having to limp around for a week) weakened something in my right leg, causing my IT band and knee to be sore. Consistent training and foam rolling/massage would've prevented that and allowed me the confidence to go faster. I was running the race worried that I may have to stop at any point.

Also, I would've liked a vest and shirt that absorbed less water as my clothes were pretty soaked and heavy by the end. Perhaps a race singlet with the arm warmers would've worked fine and more waterproofing for the gloves.

Not much, I was freezing after the race and had to get out of the wet clothes. Used my finisher shirt and then did some light stretching indoors


Lack of training in the 5+ weeks leading up to the race.


Good race and I hope to do it again next year. They were very organized and with the exception of the 43F weather, wind, and rain, it would've been great. I plan on doing this race again next year!