Holiday Halfathon, 1st AG , 8th Overall, 6th Male, 1:36:59.5
Just barely under 1:37:00, but I have to add an asterisk. Course was short. The last half marathon I did the course also came up short so comparing the two on short course times does show an improvement from 1:38:20 down to 1:36:59, although this course was even shorter (my watch came up with 12.86, where other runners were much closer to 13).
The marker for mile 4 was way off. It's normall at the top of the bridge going to the mainland, but this year it was at the bottom of the bridge. The markers after mile 4 were spaced out about a mile, so it was mainly this one. I can only theorize that it seemed as if one person started from the finish and the other started from the start and this is where it came up short. Miles 1, 2, and 3 were all as expected.
My stomach was not quite right from last night's party, I wasn't sure how I'd fare. I'd had some good tempo runs and originally planned on going out at 7:15 to 7:20 pace. Got in a mile warm up and a few strides. Did not want to take a pre-race gel but had a couple with me to take during the race. I also didn't want to drink my morning beet juice. The weather was on the verge of not being cool and humidity felt like it could be an issue.
The person that usually sings the national anthem was a no show so they played it on a little blue tooth speaker. They also announced a shortage of police officers, so after mile 7 there'd be three intersections where they told us we'd have to be careful and look at for cars. Things weren't looking so good.
Race started and I actually felt ok, a little slow but managed to get in the middle of a pack. I think some time after mile 1 I sped up a little to get out of the box. Fearful that this could be a mistake and they'd all pass me soon, tried to put that out of my mind. First three miles though were pretty consistent at 7:32, 7:28, 7:32
Then, sooner than expected the mile 4 sign showed up, figured it was a mistake, kept on going, watch beeped for mile 4 at the top of the bridge, then I was on the other side. Despite the bridge, pace still haning in there at 7:36. At this point I'd be thrilled with anything faster than 1:40 or at least anything faster than 8:00 pace.
Mile 5 and 6 still good. I sometimes fade a little on mile 6, it's a slight and steady uphill of net 30 feet. After mile 6 you get to a small park that you loop around the outside until the path reaches the Pinellas trail, there's an aid station followed by a pedestrian bridge. This is typically a slower mile, after which I'll get some speed back. Mile 7 was 7:48. Ok, if that's the worst I do then it will be ok.
Sometime in the 8th mile, a woman wearing candy cane style long socks passed me, a volunteer shouted to her "girl power!" as she passed me. But, this woman was a huge help. I picked up enough pace to keep up with her for a while as she very slowly opened a gap. I passed several guys as I followed her.
Miles 8 - 13 were: 7:28, 7:28, 7:30, 7:33, 7:33, 7:30
There was one more pedestrian bridge to go over. In the past the course would go in and out of the park, onto a road and then back into the park on a gravel path, looped around, and to the finish line with last stretch on pavement. This year, we didn't leave the park, got onto gravel path early and did an extra out and back. One more woman caught up to me and passed me. I stayed very close to her but could not pass her. None of the other guys caught up to me and most of the people in that pack I left did not pass me. I think the candy cane sock woman was not in that pack but further back but the second woman that passed me was in the pack.
Weatherwise, it got cooler and less humid as we moved away from the water. It also turned out that by the time we got to those three intersections, there were police directing traffic. This was one of the steadiest races I've run.
That should do it for racing this year, next big race is the big race in January, 100 miles inside Colt Creek State Park for my 5th Long Haul 100 race.
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