New Personal Best!

I need to get this blog post written because I can already feel myself replaying the race and trying to figure out where I could have done better.  I wanted this race recap to show how great I feel about what I accomplished and not allow any of that second guessing to come into it. 

So let me start by saying that I am SOOO happy that I beat my time from the Baltimore half marathon!  I was doubtful that I could do that.  So the fact that I did it puts a huge smile on my face.  I didn't break 2 hours.  That time goal kept popping into my head and at the halfway point, I was right where I wanted to be as far as my overall time and pace were concerned.  Unfortunately that's exactly the point when I tend to fall apart and today's race was no different.

The race was a GREAT event!  I am so proud of OC Tri Running for putting on a great race.  From my perspective, the race went off without a hitch.  I'm sure there were problems that popped up during the day, but as a runner I was so happy with the race experience in general.

The start was hectic and crowded.  That's always my least favorite part of the race - 1600 people trying to all start running at the same time.  I really hate having to battle for position and so many slow runners insist on starting in the front of the pack.  Why would you do that when you're just going to be in someone's way???  But that's a blog entry for another day...

I felt great from the start.  I was feeling fast, running right on my goal pace and I felt awesome.  The first 6 miles were right on my goal pace of 9:15.  I was hoping to run the 2nd half of the race at a 9 minute mile but unfortunately I slowed a little bit after the water station at mile 6.  I just couldn't get my stride back.  The next few miles were 9:30 and 2 miles were at a 10 minute pace.  I could feel the 2 hour goal slipping away from me.

The end of the race was just a mental challenge.  I knew that as long as I could keep my head focused, I could finish with a personal best.  I had let 2 hours go at this point.  It just wasn't the day to break that goal.  I was OK with it.  But it was a day to hit a new personal best.  What an accomplishment!  That desire kept me going when my legs and feet started to hurt.

I was smiling as I crossed the finish line and looked down at my watch.  Race photos will be posted as soon as my personal photographer downloads the shots he took.

Chip time 2:05:19
Garmin time 2:05:23

Fastest mile 9:12
Slowest mile 10:09
Average pace 9:30