This was a pretty good run. I'm happy with my finish time since it was a PR (by about 5 mins), but I was well on my way to a sub 2:00 finish until about mile 10 when my feet started killing me. It's a known problem that I'll need to get fixed now that this race is over. But I was getting a little fatigued too, so I know my endurance wasn't where it needed to be either. When the 2:00 pace group passed me about mile 12, I was upset, but they finished about 2:01:30 so my chip time may be closer to 2:00 but I'm sure I didn't beat it. Either way, it wasn't bad considering my training up to this race was recovery from my achilles pain. I really only had 3 weeks of decent training that didn't include any speed work or any real distance. The course was great. There's a hill shortly after the start, but I was surprised it was over before I realized it had really gotten started. When it leveled out, I figured there was more too it, but then I realized instead of heading up the next hill ahead, the course took us around the corner and down the other side. I took it slow out of the start. I stuck with what I thought was the 2:20 group, but turns out it was the 2:10 group, so when I left the group and caught the next, I was surprised to see it was the 2:00 group! I passed them in the 2nd mile since my pace was comfortable and I figured if I gave myself some space I'd still be OK if I had to slow or needed to make a pit stop. Through the 9th mile, I was doing great. The last 3 miles were increasingly painful, and I was disappointed when I couldn't keep up with the 2:00 group as they passed me. But I hung in there the best I could. I didn't have much of a kick at all at the end. I was just glad to be done. The PR is great, and I'll be so excited to crush the 2:00 goal in October when I run this course again! I know some people like Garmins and others don't, but for me, I love it! I got a 305 yesterday and used it on my 2 mile run that day. Today, using it for the race was awesome. It was so nice to just focus on running and not worrying about where the next mile marker is to make sure I hit my lap button, then trying to remember the previous splits to see if I was on track. I could just run and as I heard the beep, look down to see my split time. I had the average pace displayed too, so I knew that as long as I kept that under 9:05 I'd beat the 2:00. Granted, I looked at it a few times, but I looked at it less than I do my regular Timex. Thanks to my Garmin, here are my splits: 1 - 10:06
2 - 8:19
3 - 8:35
4 - 8:51
5 - 9:03
6 - 8:49
7 - 8:53
8 - 8:49
9 - 9:23
10 - 9:28
11 - 9:16
12 - 10:22
13 - 10:16
.3 - 3:46 (12:22) - forgot to stop the Garmin... 
Had to plug the blog even though I'm no where near "Fast" Hoping I won't embarrass the blog...
Looking good at 3.5 miles...declaring victory early!
 Part of my fantastic pit crew giving me some much needed Gatorade!
Dang, missed my 2:00 goal, in pain, but glad I'm done!!  Posing with my two wonderful kids!
 And posing with my wonderful wife! Thanks for all the awesome photos, honey!
2010 will be a great running year!!
Update: Official time is updated now. Not the 2:00 I was looking for, but closer! 451 total HM runners, so about mid-pack. 26 out of 37 in my AG. Splits were 5k - 28:00, 5mi - 45:04, 5mi - 49:55. So, I definitely slowed down the second 5mi but I wasn't too far off. Had I run that first mile in the 8:15 range I would have been very close to my 2:00 goal. Next time, I'll be going out faster!
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