Haven't been running much so wasn't sure about doing this run. Signed up a few months ago with the intention of using this run as the beginning of my buildup for Marine Corps Marathon. That's essentially what I did... treated it as a long run.
Tried to do an easy run the night before and had really bad shin splints. Got up on race morning, had my usual pre-race meal... banana and 1/2 peanut butter/chocolate powerbar and off I went to the race. Parking took longer than anticipated and the race got pushed back 15 or so minutes. That was fine with me as I needed to hit the portapotty anyway. It was a little over 1/2 mile walk to the race start from the parking area. My shins were killing me. I wasn't even sure I was going to be able to run. However, by time I hit the bathroom and got to the start line they loosened up and felt okay so I gave it a go. First mile was 9:42 and it went downhill from there. I was ahead of the 2:25 pace group for quite a while. They caught me before the turnaround and I hung on to them for a while hoping I could pick it up and beat my 2:23 time from last year but it wasn't meant to be. Around mile 10 I crashed. I was out of gas from not putting in enough miles this spring and it hit me. I lost sight of the 2:25 pace group and was eventually swallowed up by the 2:30 group. I ran the entire race other than the aid stations so I am proud of that. That is my game plan for any race so to be able to do that when crashing so hard during this one I was glad to have the mental attitude to keep going even when I didn't feel like it. Finish time was 2:28:59. By far my worst performance but it's only my 3rd half marathon ever so it's not like I have a lot of experience here. I am glad I did it and it still serves as my start up towards Marine Corps Marathon. Next up is Hospital Hill! Gulp........
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