Ran the Wildcat Half Marathon up in Huntsville this morning as my last long workout before the TOU Marathon. Obviously running an all-out half 2 weeks out from the marathon wouldn't be advisable (and I wasn't willing to do that), especially on the heels of a very hard effort last weekend. My plan was to come through 10 miles in 54-55 minutes (a little slower than goal MP) and then pick it up over the last 5K. Objective #2 was to score some circuit points. Woke up to a thunderstorm and it raining the whole drive up, but the weather cleared in time for the race. In fact, the sun came out right when we started and it got very warm and humid. We all looked like we had jumped in a pool at the finish line... soaked in sweat! We were all pretty gross. For a very small race (only 70 runners!), the top end of the race was loaded. Off the start we had a good sized pack - myself, Brett Hales, Riley, Ken, Ben, and Nate. We started off at a nice comfortable effort (5:21, 5:18) until Ben decided to string it out in the 3rd mile with a 5:09. That splintered the group and after we hit mile 4 (5:18) Brett glided away the rest of us and he was quickly long gone. Fine with me - he's not doing the circuit anyways! :-) 
The 5th mile (5:30) cut across a field on a jeep trail and even featured a stream crossing! Then we were back on the road heading towards Huntsville again. Mile 6 was 5:24. I had been running ~5-10 meters behind Riley for this section and that would be the case until almost 10 miles. Miles 7-8-9-10 were 5:30, 5:30, 5:27, 5:28. I was just trying to keep a nice even "marathon effort." Hit the 10 mile mark in 53:55 (~5:23/mi avg), just about exactly what I wanted and had planned. 
I passed Riley just before 10 miles and then picked up the pace a bit for the last couple miles - 5:14, 5:13, 5:13, and :34 for the last tenth. My energy seemed to go up during the last 4-5 miles of the race - it took me a while to get loose and in a good rhythm this morning. Final time of 1:10:12 which was right in the effort level range I was looking for (1:10-1:11). 
The course was great - long straightaways, rolling hills - a very honest course. The elevation profile reminded me a lot of Duluth (except 5000 feet higher!). 
I'm pleased with the results this morning... I didn't exactly feel like a million bucks going into this one, so it was a good simulation of the second half of the marathon. I'm happy with myself for sticking to my race plan and not trying to go with Brett (he would have killed me anyways). Discipline will be important in the big race two weeks from now. Oh the way home, MarkP (who carpooled up with us) treated us to some soft serve cones. Perfect way to cap off the morning! Andrea took a bunch more photos - Wildcat Half Marathon 
[AM - 17 miles. 2 up, race, 2 down] PM - 3 miles easy to shakeout the legs. Andrea biked w/ me and we talked about my taper / workout plan for the next week. | 
