City of Trees Half Marathon - 1:18:53 - 6th place
Felt pretty good about this one. It was a great morning to race and it was exciting to see how much this race has grown. Some big guns up front - 1:10 for the winner - and some decent depth. The course is a loop on the roads and greenbelt that's fairly flat with few small uphills and one short, steep downhill at the end of mile 9. Ran really solid through 10 miles, but just faded and got mentally weak in mile 12 and 13.
Splits were super consistent:
1. 5:58. Top 5 separated themselves pretty quickly. I'm in no man's land. Pace feels pretty good. The game plan of 6:00/miles seems about right.
2. 6:01 Pass 2 guys this mile to move into 6th. Top 4 are looong gone. 5th place is close in front of me.
3. 6:00 Through Bown Crossing. 5th place guy (Jason Ridgeway) about 10 seconds ahead.
4. 6:06 Cruising, just keeping things steady and running within myself. With no long runs, high mileage or solid workouts behind me, I can't be too reckless.
5. 6:03 Onto Amity Rd.
6. 6:09 Up Amity to Federal Way - a solid hill
7. 5:49 Making up some nice ground on 5th place. Rolling along, feeling strong.
8. 5:55 Rolling pretty good down Federal Way. Pulled up with Jason. Made the mistake of running with him rather than trying to keep the momentum going. At the same time, it did feel good to run with someone for a change.
9. 5:57 Still feeling good, running side by side with Jason, knowing I have something left in the tank for a bigger move soon.
10. 5:53 Finishing Federal Way, and down to Capital Blvd. This mile should have been way faster. Passed Jason down the hill and eyeing someone who has been spit out the back of the lead pack. Tried to put some space on Jason but no luck. I know it's going to be tough the last 3 miles.
11. 6:02 On the greenbelt and past Bronco Stadium. Struggling here a little.
12. 6:13 Jason goes past me. I settle in, feel sorry for myself, concede that 6th place and sub 1:19 will be good enough, then try to get back into it - all in the space of a couple minutes.
13. 6:02 + 36 for . 11 Kind of complacent as I'm getting gapped.
Finished up with my body feeling intact. No cramped legs, no injuries, etc. That's a good sign.
Overall, a pretty good performance. Sub 1:18 and 4th place would have been better, but for the amount of training I've done, I'll take it! | 