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Prairie State Half Marathon

October 12, 2013 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: Upper-50s, sunny, slight S breeze

Comments:
I don't know why, but I had some major doubts heading into this race. I knew how much work I had put in and the kind of time I was capable of, but still I doubted. All of the doubts were erased today.

My plan was to get out the gate at around 6:40-6:45 pace for the first three miles. I ended up running 6:38, 6:39, 6:35 so I was ahead of schedule and feeling good. Things had spread out pretty quickly and I was pretty much alone after mile 2. After mile 3, I decided to push the pace just a little bit...I was feeling good and I felt like I was in a good groove; next three in 6:33, 6:26, and 6:29. I did a brief mental celebration as I passed the 10K mark in 40:38 which is a new 10K PR for me.

At the turn I was on target, even a little ahead of schedule. The Prairie State course is a true out and back, you literally turn right around at about the halfway point. This meant that I got to see all of the people in front of me, and that I got to pass the rest of the field running in the other direction. This was actually really great, mostly because I received a lot of encouragement from the runners on what was a mostly spectator-less course.

Miles 7, 8, and 9 were pretty steady. I was definitely in the mindset of holding things steady. I felt like the pace I was on was near the limit. 6:30, 6:34, 6:36.

In between mile 9 and mile 10 was where things started to get real tough. There was a long gradual hill that really took it out of me and things were really spread out so it was kinda lonely too. At mile 10 I reminded myself that I only had a 5K left and just kept things together. Miles 10, 11, and 12 were 6:36, 6:39, 6:51 (oof).

I saw Chanthana at right around mile 12 and that was a big boost. Just to see a familiar face was great and also I was right on the heels of another guy so that gave me some resolve to keep pushing. At about mile 12.5 I could see the finish and I started pouring it on. I passed that guy with about 1/3rd of a mile left and told myself that I was not going to let him catch me. That powered me through the finish line with a new PR of 1:25:56, good enough for 11th place overall and 2nd in the 25-29 AG.

Overall I'm really pleased with how I executed this race. The start was a little speedier than I had planned, but I think that probably ended up playing to my benefit. I fell apart just a little bit at the end but pulled it back together and finished strong.

Final splits: 6:38, 6:39, 6:35, 6:33, 6:26, 6:29, 6:30, 6:34, 6:36, 6:36, 6:39, 6:51, 6:25, :21 (5:48)