It was important to me to bounce back from a tough first half of the year. A sub1:40 half marathon goal has been something that has eluded me for one reason or the other and one I felt I could attain for this race. Just the sort of thing that could get me back to running shape as part of my preparation for my next marathon later this fall. The last 9 weeks this was what it was all geared towards. Looking back I was definitely not in sub1:40 shape 9 weeks ago.
I got a good nite sleep Friday nite sleeping almost 8hrs. I usually never get that much. Nite before race did not sleep as well which is par for the course for me. I think I woke-up every hr on the hour until alarm went off at 4:30am. I went thru my usual race morning routine and hit road about 5;30am. Harrisburg just under an hour's drive from Chambersburg. I got to race about 6:30am and not too crowded yet. Picked up my race bag and hit potty one last time considering no lines yet.
I got a 1m mile warm-up in. Ran last 0.5m reverse starting at finish and across Market Street bridge and first part of riverwalk which included an incline down to riverwalk. I ran past a hobo just under bridge which was a nice site that early in morning. He would still be there during race.
Back from my warm-up waited for race start. No real corrals to speak of and probably was in mid-pack as race started. it was a chip timed race and think it took me a minute to cross start. First mile loops around City Island and minor league baseball stadium there. Very congested that first quarter mile or so, but opened up after that. Kept pace around 7:40 pace and first mile ended up at 7:45. A little slower than I would have liked, but much better than a 7:15 first mile which was case last time I PR'd at HM distance.:) Made up for it mile 2 with a 7:35 pace. Mile 3 ends right at start rail trail section of course and most of 4th mile runs along rail trail before coming back to riverwalk. Popped a gel at mile 4 as water stop coming up. I was not doing sports drink on course as it was Cytomax and have had GI issues with that in a previous half marathon. Splits at Mile 3 & 4 consistent at 7:41 and 7:40. Right on target where I wanted to be for first part of race.
Riverwalk has a upper and lower section. It down-slopes to lower portion right after water station at Mile 4 and last about 1 mile or so leading back up to upper portion of riverwalk until about Mile 8. I got into a good groove at this point and felt like I was on cruise control feeling really strong. Miles 5 & 6 in at 7:36 and 7:40. I figured out I needed to be at halfway 6.55m point at 48-50 minutes if sub 1:40 was going to happen. Hit that mark at 50:05 and was happy I was right where I needed to be. Miles just seemed to be clicking off at this point. Just after Mile 8 mark course loops around a residential neighborhood. Splits for Mile 7 & 8 at 7:31 and 7:44.
Course looped back to upper riverwalk around Mile 9, but actually coned off on street leading back to Market Street bridge. Picked it up a bit with 7:34 and 7:29 splits for Miles 9 & 10. Course back on lower portion leading to bridge. Miles 11 & 12 in at 7:38 and 7:37 and really had to dig deep at this point. Got to Mile 12 at 1:31 and at this point I realized I was getting to point I was on brink of a sub1:40 or possibly not. Never really crossed my mind that I would not. Really gave it all I had left. Upclimb to Market Street bridge kind of reminded me of hill at Iwo Jima at MCM. I did not care as I was getting this done. I got on bridge and just pushed it to finish. Stopped Garmin and it read 1:39:57. I was so excited I did it. Official time would be 1:39:54. Talk about getting it done right under the wire.:) That bothers me a bit that I cut it so close, but bottom-line is I got it done. Still a 1:30 minute PR and that is what matters. It'll just motivate me to get my PR down even further in 2013. I love the HM distance and will probably always be my favorite. The thing that makes me really happy is this was first race that I neg split 50:05/49:49. Never done that before. This race definitely the highlight to my running year...until November at least.:)
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