Plan was to hang with the 1:50 pace group as long as I could - thought I might make 8 miles with them, but they went out fast and were keeping a 8:15 or so pace and they started pulling away around mile 5. Lost them for good in the Park with the first hill. Which is also where I started struggling. Went out too fast? Not enough nutrition? Too cold? Hills in the Park showed my lack of leg strength? Probably all contributed to it. Anyway, hit the 10K mark at 53:04 which I think is my fastest 10K as part of a half and was ahead of my 1:52 pace. But I knew by then I was already in trouble and the next 3-4 miles had some rough moments in them. I rallied around mile 10 (maybe the Powerade I picked up in the Park helped?) and was able to do low 9s the rest of the way. But overall, not run smartly. But part of the point was to find out where I was. I might have been able to do 1:57 or so with smarter race execution, but I really wanted to see where I stood relative to 3-4 years ago. Now I know :-)

Starting pace should have been 8:30 instead of 8:15 for me. More G/water pre-race.

Just grabbed some powerade and pizza and headed for the Y for a shower. Got stuck in miserable traffic for 2 hours.


Weight. Lack of leg strength / speed training.


They run a great race! Really should try to make a weekend of it with Karen.