I almost didn't get to the race this morning as the weather outlook was for rain changing to snow in North Georgia and it looked as though I'd hit it on my return home. But after checking Weather Channel at 4:30 a.m. I decided to go ahead and hope for the best. I had a very good race so am very happy with my decision. I was aiming to run ~1:23 if things went well.
It was 40 degrees with sprinkles at the 8 a.m. start so close to ideal, although the wind was picking up. And the rain gradually increased and was coming down steadily after about 30-35 minutes but I didn't really mind. (Well, I guess dry with no wind would have been more to my liking!) This is a small event with accompanying full marathon and both started together. Two other guys, one going 26.2 and the other in the half, took the lead along with me and we stayed together about 4 miles (24:53) when the other guy in the half pulled ahead. Soon the guy in the full got away from me but I didn't mind, I was running the pace I wanted. Miles 5 and 6 were directly into the wind then we turned so it was at our side and then a tailwind for several miles. I was 37:23 at 6 so felt I'd probably make my time goal if I kept at it. I had a bit of a problem with the insole of my left shoe which came completely loose and started to shift toward the rear of the shoe. It felt uncomfortable, especially my toes, but wasn't a big deal. I hit 10 in 1:02.34, more than a minute faster than I ran for a 10 mile race about five weeks ago. I maintained pace the rest of the way to finish in 1:22.05 and my splits show pretty solid pacing. This is only 7 seconds slower than I ran in this same race three years ago so a better performance given I'm almost 48 now vs. not quite 45 back then. Took 2nd overall. This certainly encourages me that I'm fit to run a sub-3:00 marathon.
6:13 6:13
12:28 6:15
18:39 6:11
24:53 6:14
31:13 6:20
37:23 6:10
43:35 6:12
49:54 6:19
56:15 6:21
1:02.34 6:19
1:08.50 6:16
1:15.08 6:18
1:21.25 6:17
1:22.05 0:40 | 