National Half Marathon 2008 | Greg's Running Log

The National Half Marathon

Start time: 3/29/08, 7:00am

Location: Washington DC

Distance: 13.1 miles

Finishing time: 2:00:17

Average pace: 9:11min/mile

Miles for March: 57

Just realized I’d never gotten around to posting this. So, the disappointment that was the National Half Marathon this year.

A year earlier I ran the race, had an extra quarter mile tacked on by accident, and finished with a 1:58:17. This year? Two minutes slower, but without the added distance. So what happened? A few things. I hadn’t trained as well, something I knew going into the day. My longest run beforehand was a 10-miler, and looking back to the previous year (as well as this year’s splits) having a 12-miler under my belt really had helped. (I felt soon after hitting marker 10 like I’d run out of gas.) A mistake I won’t make again. In general, though, I just wasn’t feeling as excited about the race, and that can be a bad thing.

It’s also worth noting that this year’s course was much steeper than last year’s for the half-marathon. That climb up through mile 8? It wiped me out, and then once I hit new distance (as you’ll see below) everything just sort of crashed and burned. There was also some self-sabotage going on with what I can best term “bad math.” I remember finishing mile 11, seeing the split, and thinking it was impossible to stay under 2 hours. Well, that wasn’t really the case at that point, but it certainly seemed like it. And I am sure that given a mental defeat, my body followed along rather stupidly.

(I’m also kicking myself for needing a minute long bathroom break during mile 3. Had I just peed in the parking lot right beforehand like I’d contemplated, at least being sub-2:00 probably would’ve been in the bag. Oh well.)

Live and learn, live and learn. And hey, it wasn’t a personal best, but I did finish and it was faster than my 2006 time. I’m really glad I ran it.

Mileage	Mile Times	Total Time	Overall Pace	Elevation
1	09:27.7	0:09:28	0:09:28
2	08:47.1	0:18:15	0:09:07
3	09:38.9	0:27:54	0:09:18
4	08:30.2	0:36:24	0:09:06
5	09:00.3	0:45:24	0:09:05
6	09:18.7	0:54:43	0:09:07
7	09:25.4	1:04:08	0:09:10
8	08:57.7	1:13:06	0:09:08
9	08:58.5	1:22:04	0:09:07
10	08:55.3	1:31:00	0:09:06
11	09:20.4	1:40:20	0:09:07
12	09:45.3	1:50:05	0:09:10
13.1	10:11.9	2:00:17	0:09:11