This was a week after my first 70.3, so I was feeling mostly recovered but hadn't done much running (or anything) all week. I was going to see if my coach would want me to complete a different "assignment" - treat it as a regular long run, maybe do it at marathon pace (I have a full marathon in 5 weeks) - but he was like, "just race it." So, ok.

Unlike last year, where I definitely treated this as my A race and trained very specifically for it including lots of race pace runs, I had really not put a lot of mental preparation into this race. I had done very little running at a 4/1 run walk - most was at 3/1 which I used for the HIM and will probably use for the full mary. But if I was going to race this thing I wanted to PR (old PR was 2:02:xx), and I figured I couldn't get there at 3/1. This gave me a pretty basic strategy of: run really fast for 4 minutes, walk 1, repeat. At some point, stop walking, only run.

Since I cut it pretty close as far as bag check and portapotty, I ended up lining up pretty far back, basically behind the fences that made up the "corral." Last year they tried to assign corrals, this year it was just a free-for-all - with this size race, I'm not sure which is actually better. It would have been a bummer if someone wanted to get with a pace group, though, because they were all inside the fences and it would have been hard for people to get through to them. The congestion was intense the first mile or so, and I ended up running slower than my goal pace and skipped the first walk break to make up for it.

The course remained pretty populated after that but there was enough room to move, so I picked up the pace and started taking my walk breaks in the second mile. The miles ticked away pretty fast and by mile 6 or 7 I realized that I was averaging right around a 9 minute pace. And - not that it was easy - but all I could think was how much easier it was than last weekend! All I had to do was keep up the pace, and I figured I'd need a buffer for the inevitable extra .1 or .2 I always add to a HM. I did slow down a bit on some of the hills on the second half of the course, but there were enough flats and downhills to make up for them. Then with about a mile left, I turned off my (shiny new) Gymboss and ran it in. The very last section before the finish line was a run around the field inside the UGA stadium, complete with Jumbotron action. Fun! Then I was across the finish line in just over 1:59.

Heh. On the one hand, this was a decisive PR, and I met all my goals - #1, beat last year's time (2:04); #2, PR; #3, break two hours. So I wouldn't really do anything differently. But ideally - not race a HIM a week before a HM, put a little more race-specific training and thought into it. Or not - maybe I'm finally experienced enough that I can wing it and it's not really winging it.

Walked a little bit, grabbed a banana, muffin, chocolate milk (I love Your Pie pizza, but it was not what I wanted to eat, or even smell, immediately after crossing the finish line), retrieved my bag so I could get my jacket on - the weather was perfect for me running in short sleeves, but in the shade afterward it was chilly! Chatted with a few friends, and walked home (about 2 miles).


My general run fitness appears to still be improving, if slower than in my first year or two of running. A few extra pounds to lose and many more miles to run would get me faster, more quickly.