In my fourth running of the 3M Half Marathon (and my 18th overall), the day almost never got started.  I was plagued by a foot injury from the week prior and wasn’t sure if I’d be able to start, let alone finish, the race.  Spoiler: I finished and it went pretty well!

Race morning I rode to the start with my neighbor who was pacing the 1:50 group.  We parted ways and I found what was, is, and forever will be the longest port-a-potty line in the world.  I heard “GO!” just as I was next in line, so I got a late start and hopped into the starting chute right next to the 1:55 pace group.  Not knowing if I’d finish, I didn’t set a goal for myself, so I just started running with what felt good.

I bobbed and weaved as I made my way along the course, paying extremely close attention to my foot.  It reached a certain level of discomfort early on and never got worse, so I gradually shifted my focus over to my pace.  By Mile 3 I was hitting some pretty good times and set an on-the-fly goal of 1:30.  From then on I pressed forward, but continuously reminded by the uneven ground that my foot wasn’t 100%.  The weather couldn’t have been more perfect and the downhill course (see the green graph below) made things a little easier for everyone.

 

The course swings right by my house, so Ev organized a neighborhood cheering section right around mile 9.5.  A big group came out to support the runners so I stopped for about a minute to high five everyone, give a foot update, and swap my gloves for sunglasses.  Back on the road with 3 miles to go I felt strong but realized I couldn’t take it easy to hit my goal.  Also you can see where I stopped to chat in the blue pace graph.

So with the finish line fast approaching I did some quick math to realize I’d comfortably hit my goal and didn’t push it.  The final turn comes off what feels like the largest incline of the whole course and then down the final stretch right toward the Capitol building.  My official unofficial finish time is 1:29:39.

 

Distance	13.1 Miles
Time	1:29:39
Pace	6:51 min/mile
Overall Place	234 / 5484 (4.27%)
Age Group Place	31 / 292 (10.61%)
Gender Place	197 / 2255 (8.74%)

And thanks to our great neighbors, we had an epic brunch following the race (at Fonda San Miguel).  My body hurt more from all the food than the race itself. This is only two of the four tables of food.