This was supposed to be a moderated effort race for me. I've really been focusing on my swim and bike this off-season, and I really had no reason to think I could challenge my PR (1:37:36). The plan was to go out easy (8:00-8:10 miles) and then see how I felt around the midway point.

I started off on the right track, running 8:18 for the first mile, and then just under 8:00 for the second mile. Then I started pushing a bit without even realizing it. At the 5 mile point, after hitting 7:45 or so for 3 straight miles, my buddy told me to go ahead.

As soon as I went off on my own, my whole mindset changed. We had been chatting away for the first 5 miles, and it was easier to just relax and take it easy. As soon as I was by myself, I entered race mode. I felt it happening, and was defenseless to stop it. The next mile was about 7:30, and I kept it around there or faster for the next 5 miles, with the only exception being mile 8 when I had to stop and pee (overhydrating FTL).

I hit the 10 mile mark feeling as strong as I've ever felt late in a race. I knew I had tons left in the tank. I figured I'd already ruined my chances of it being an easy day, so I pushed....hard.

Mile 11 was 7:08 and mile 12 was 7:05. I still felt great after that. I was absolutely befuddled at how great I felt. So screw it, I said...let's see what I can do. I did the last 1.1 at about a 6:30 pace.

As you might imagine, I ended up having a pretty aggressive negative split, doing the first half in 51:21 and the second half in 47:57.

Mile splits:
1 8:18.0 1.01 8:13
2 7:56.4 1.00 7:56
3 7:41.9 0.99 7:46
4 7:48.8 1.01 7:45
5 7:47.1 1.00 7:46
6 7:30.3 1.02 7:19
7 7:37.6 1.02 7:29
8 8:22.9 1.01 8:17
9 7:31.6 1.01 7:27
10 7:15.9 1.00 7:17
11 7:08.9 0.99 7:15
12 7:05.6 1.01 7:03
13 6:23.0 1.00 6:25
14 :51.8 0.15 5:51

Pick a strategy and stick with it.

I really accomplished nothing with this race. If I thought the best thing was to stay within myself, then I should have done that. If I wanted to push, I could have evened out my splits and probably PR'd.

My wife was watching both of the little ones by herself, so I didn't stick around for the post-race festivities. Once I had a bottle of water and my medal, I was out of there.


I definitely drank too much before the race and early in the race. You should never have a pee break in a half marathon. I probably could have pushed through it, but at that point I was still in the mindset that this was a training race.


I really like this race. It's a wonderful start to the season for me.