I got up at 5am and had an early breakfast before getting Jack ready to leave the house at 6:40am. Elizabeth dropped me off at the start/finish line and took Jack over to one of the few easily accessible spots on the course for supporters.
I did a short warm up and some stretches before bumping in to my friend Ken who was also running the race. He had hopes of finishing under 1:40 and said that he was feeling good about his chances. We entered the chute at around 7:20am and made our way through the crowds to the third or fourth row of runners were we waited for the announcements and national anthem. The race had posted on Facebook on Friday that they had passed the 400 mark for runners in the Half Marathon, but looking around there didn't seem to be 400 runners at the start line (the official results have 366 finishers). Most of the people around us were saying that they'd never started a race this close to the front before, so it certainly was an unusual field of runners. The starter gave a nice countdown and we were off.
Mile 1: 6:14 - I navigated through the runners that wanted to start at the front and then run a 9:30 first mile as we made the turn out of the parking lot and on to Lassiter Mill road following the lead bike and Police car. I wanted to push the pace a little here on the downhill and just moved my body weight forward a little more than normal and let the hill do the work for me.
Miles 2-5 (6:44, 7:00, 7:04, 7:12) - I felt great during this portion of the race and passed Elizabeth and Jack at around 2.7 miles and Elizabeth managed to get this great photo of me. I was in 5th place overall at this point!
This portion of the greenway was mostly flat and probably in the sun for 50% of the time. I noticed the sun was quite strong when I was exposed to it but the shady parts seemed to come at just the right time. I had made a decision to just run with water (and GU's and S-Caps) for this race instead of the watered down Gatorade that I normally run with and I assume that was why I started to feel my calf cramp after only 3 miles. I took an S-Cap and some water and the tightness went away, but it was very strange to be feeling that so early in a race. I was trying hard to get my pace closer to the 7:10's that I had targeted and finally managed it for mile 5.
Miles 6 & 7 (7:11, 8:06) - All of a sudden the shade disappeared and I was exposed to the sun and mentally trying to prepare for the up coming hill. Looking back, I don't think I've ever run many flat races - there are typically always some small rolling hills that result in changes in stride length, but in this race, I'd been on the nearly flat greenway for 5 miles when I came up on the hill just before the turn around point. All of a sudden my legs felt heavy and it took much more effort than I had expected to get up the hill. It was only a fairly short hill and once at the top, a quick downhill on the other side, but my legs didn't like the change in pace and effort at all. I made it to the turn around 90 seconds ahead of goal pace, but about where I thought I needed to be given the big hill at mile 12. Knowing the struggle I had getting up the hill a few minutes before, I decided to walk the tougher part of the hill this time as I wasn't really able to run it much faster than I could walk it. Once past the steep part I started running again and then opened my stride on the downhill. My 90 second lead was down to 30 seconds now.
Mile 8 (7:12) - I'd been in the sun for nearly 20 minutes now without a significant break and I began to feel it towards the end of the this mile. I took another S-Cap, but I was already starting to feel warmer and my legs were heavy.
Miles 9-12 (7:34, 7:43, 7:54, 7:40) - I was passed by 5 or 6 runners in this section of the race and my goal of breaking 1:35 slipped away from me. I was working hard, but my pace dropped, my legs got heavier and my muscles got tighter. I passed Elizabeth and Jack again at around 10.4 miles and managed a smile for the camera. I needed some encouragement at this point and I certainly got it from my family!
It was hard knowing that my goal had slipped away and that the huge hill was still coming up at the end of the race, but I drew on my experience from RunRaleigh where I was disappointed that I didn't keep going as hard as I could even when I knew I wouldn't PR and I kept pushing myself along.
Mile 13 - (9:43) - I pushed and pushed as hard as I could along the greenway and finally made the turn on to Lassiter Mill. I really had nothing left at all at this point and could only run/walk up the hill. I knew the hill was going to be tough, but it was much worse than I had expected! I finally made it to the flatter section near the top of the hill and kicked to the finish line to finish in 1:38:04. Elizabeth and Jack were waiting at the top of the hill and got this photo of me approaching the finish line arch!
1:38:04 (7:29/mile) is my second fastest Half Marathon ever and I am very pleased with it. The course was tougher than I had expected (even though I had run on it twice before the race) and I still struggle to deal with the sun and what it does to my body temperature. Not to mention the giant hill at the end of the race! I was 15th overall, the 13th male and 4th in my age group, so it wasn't as if I was the only one that found it hard going.
The was the inaugural Midtown/Captrust Half Marathon, but it was very well organized with a well marked course and enthusiastic volunteers at the plentiful water stations. Knowing how much goes in to organizing a race of this size, I think the Race Director and his team did a great job.
