Finally. Under 1:10. No more driver's license yak. Yay!
The first two miles were in 10:05. I kept close contact with the lead pack for the first two miles, then felt the pace was too fast and dropped back. I saw 15:26 at 3, then 20:34 at 4. Some of the splits may have been uneven, but I was happy to be on pace for the first four.
Then the road flattened out. I felt residual fatigue from the fast start, and was worried about what would happen over the remaining 9 miles. The first four miles of a half marathon can be decieving. Huntsville, TOU, Pheonix, Provo River.
I saw 5:22 for mile 5, so 25:56 overall. This was discouraging as I thought I was losing pace and because I started feeling more tired. The course became more downhill. I tried to focus on pushing and not on my fatigue or fears. I made the scripture "for my yoke is easy and my burden is light" my motto. I felt like I was floating for the next two miles, which were in 5:18 and 5:15. I was really glad I didn't have to do the uphill like in Provo River and in my training runs.
After 7 I became more tired. I no longer felt like I was floating, but I also wasn't completely miserable. I kept the 5:15 pace all the way through 9. At 9 I could feel my heart's fatigue. At that point I really started to belive the standard was within reach. I resolved to fight for each mile. Given my substantial lead, I knew that each mile on pace both shortened the amount of time I had to crash as well as the severity of the upcoming crash.
I was able to hold onto pace up to mile 11. Eleven to 12 was 5:31, and 12 to the finish was about 5:35. My total time was 1:09:11, and my place overall was 6th.
I'm very happy with my performance in this race. I feel like I did not have a psychological breakdown like in Utah Valley, TOU or Hunstville, where after a certain point I stopped fighting and just suffered to the finish. I felt worse after this half than any other. I threw up, and walked like a toddler.
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