I just finished my first major half marathon earlier today and was thrilled with the result. The race takes place at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. The expo at the Nutter Center was very well done and I had no issues. Same goes for the parking on race day. Most people complain about it, but it's fine if you get there early. I arrived two hours before the half started and got right in. It is about a mile walk from the parking area to the start line by the Air Force Museum, but it's good for a warm-up.
Let's get to the race itself. I came in to this one thinking I would just take it easy. Break two hours, go home, rest up for the Columbus Marathon next month. But the weather was just too perfect and I felt great during this one! Here's the breakdown:
Miles 1-5: The start was a bit of a cluster compared to what I'm used to, but there were around 5,000 in the half. The first part winds around the base itself, so there are very few spectators and nothing too scenic. I started out at my usual pace and hit the first mile in 9:00. The second mile was slightly faster and the third was slightly faster than that. I was feeling pretty good and started flirting with the idea of running a 1:55. We made our way off the base into a few local neighborhoods. I took a gel at mile 4 because I felt that I was running a good pace and wanted to keep that going. I hit the 5 mile mark in 44:22 which is slightly faster that the 45:00 I usually try to hit.
Miles 6-10: Something happened to me around mile 6. I hit the mile marker in 52:26, making it just higher than an 8 minute mile. Granted, there was a downhill here, but an 8 minute mile doesn't happen to me during a half. And I still felt great. So I slowed down just a bit to keep it realistic, but was still running a nice pace. There was a wicked hill just past the 8 mile mark. I slowed down a bit during this stretch and hit the downhill pretty hard. We came in around Wright State University and I hit the 9 mile marker in 1:18.24. Another little hill during mile 10, but I was still at 1:27.13 at the 10 mile mark. Usually I try for a 1:30 at this point. I can safely say that this was when I decided to really push my pace and go for a new PR.
Miles 11-13.1: We hit a few more hills between WSU and the base, but I know the roads around this area very well since I went to WSU. Kept pushing my pace and hit the 11 mile mark in 1:35 and change. My previous personal best is 1:52.57, so I still had to push the pace some to hit that mark. I definitely did that today. Not sure what my 12 mile mark was, but I think it was around 1:42, making it a 7 minute mile! Pretty close to the same for the final mile. We made our way back to the Air Force Museum, made a few turns, and ran underneath the wings of several planes lined up along the finish (awesome). Hit the finish line in 1:50.01, beating my previous best by 2:56! That's a huge PR! My overall place was 578/4661.
I am obviously thrilled with my time with this race. It gives me a new PR and the confidence to try to break 1:50 next year. It also gives me confidence going into next month's Columbus Marathon. I have an easy 5k next week that I decided to sign up for because it's free. Can't pass that up! But I'm pretty focused in on Columbus right now.
Next race: Miami Valley School Run for the Rams- Dayton, OH
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