Journeys Half Marathon

My second half marathon is done. I ran in the Journeys Half Marathon on Saturday May 10th in Eagle River, WI.

My time wasn't as good as I was hoping it'd be. It was probably because I started out too conservatively with my pace and couldn't make it up in the later miles. That's annoying. The course was pretty flat aside from a moderate hill on mile 7. Thanks to my hill training, I passed quite a few folks on this hill. That was nice. There was about a half-mile stretch of the last two miles that was torn up due to construction. The ground switched from hard-packed to loose and rocky numerous times, which got really annoying. Good thing it was only a half-mile because anything longer would have been harder to take.

I was in much better condition for this race than the Fox Cities HM, which I ran back in September. My legs held out pretty well. My quads got a bit tight in the later miles but I was able to manage them doing some light stretching at the water stops. Last year, my legs gave out around the 9th mile and I did a ton of walking in the last two miles. That sucked.

My pre-race fuel was one and a half Pemmican bars. I had two Hammer Gels during the run, at miles 5 and 9. I also had one Shot Block for each mile that I didn't take gels, starting at mile 4. I probably didn't need to take that many Blocks, but I was bored. I had water at each aid station after the first one and had Gatorade at the mile 10 station. I walked for about one minute every mile, but after an hour, I think I may have walked longer than than. It was harder to tell because my 205 doesn't display seconds once it hits an hour and I had to estimate my time. I know I was over on some. I ended up with one blister on the second toe of my left foot which was caused by the tape on my big toe rubbing against it. I noticed it at mile 4 and finally stopped to fix it at mile 6. I didn't have any bandages with me, so I ended up taking the tape off of my big toe completely. Note to self: carry bandages next time.

Here are my results (12 minutes faster than my last race):

overall place:	299 out of 388
division place:	28 out of 37
time:	2:30:38
pace:	11:30

I'm taking the next week or two off while Josh and I finish up the drywall on my bathroom then it's back into training for the Fox Cities HM on September 21. I'm considering doing the Hodag 10k on June 28th. I might attempt a race in July and another in August, if I can find something interesting.