Leading up to the race, Kris and I were ambivalent about our prospects.  Kris had been hoping to PR, but had not been running as well as she wanted.  I had decided to do a bunch of challenging runs close together (several 20+ mile training runs, the Fat Ass 25k, and some other trail runs of varying difficulty).  For me, this added up to tired legs, an elevated heart rate, and more difficulty in maintaining the pace I wanted.  After thinking it over, we decided that we'd probably have a good enough time just giving it our best effort.  Then the night before the race, our eldest daughter wasn't feeling well, and we thought about staying home with her.  In the end, we felt she'd be in good hands with Grandma and Grandpa.

So this is why we found ourselves waiting to be picked up at the local Park and Ride at 7:15 on race morning.  The van ran a little late, but once we connected, the 14 or so of us headed up together.  While going with the van may have cost us a bit of sleep, it was a great way to relax and have some fun before the race.  I also canvassed the van to find out what people's paces would be.  I found myself sort of in the middle, and uncertain of what I wanted to do. 

Arriving and registering was straightforward (as always), and after a short wait, it was time to line up outside.  We'd heard that the course had changed due to flooding around Clear Lake, and that we wouldn't have to run up a steep hill between mile 7 and 8.  The impression people seemed to have was that this made the race a flat, out and back course.  More on that later.

The road out of town has a slight uphill grade, but I usually run the first mile a bit too fast anyway.  This year being no different, I clicked off the first mile in about 7:35.  We get a nice downhill heading into the second mile marker, so that split was about the same.  I found myself throttling back a bit, knowing that running a 1:39 as I did last year would be a stretch.  What I was noticing as well was that my heart rate was hovering between 160 and 170 at that pace.  This is not a rate I can maintain comfortably over 13 miles, so I knew that either I'd slow down, or I'd pay the price.

Decisions like this are great.  You know the right thing to do is to slow down.  In my case, this is especially prudent because I was running the Mardi Gras Marathon three weeks later.  Noting my tired legs, the right thing to do is to get some time on my legs, but to take it easy nonetheless.  Of course, you can take responsibility for the less rational choice too - which is to see what you can do.  This is what I did. 

Very early on I'd watched John Dickson shoot out in front of me.  As I passed through mile 4, Nina Grossman came up from behind me, apparently deciding that her warmup was done.  Within a half mile, she'd gained a good 200 meters in front, and was still passing people.  By this time, I was still oscillating about what pace would work best, or whether to glom onto a group of ESR folks, and turn it into more of a social run. 

Passing the 6 mile marker, I could see that there was a pretty good hill ahead.  This turned out to be the "chef's surprise" - the new course was indeed not flat.  Instead the half mile or so before the turnaround point included a nice 130 foot climb.  My heart rate shot up from the relatively mild 160s into the high 170s, and my pace dropped from around 8 minutes per mile to 11.  I waved to John and Nina as they passed coming back downhill, and pushed on ahead.  As I turned around, I caught my breath and planned a nice stretch of downhill recovery.  Kim Lobree, Randy Erber, and Tony Tang were close behind me.  Mark Smith was powering up the hill.  Not too far behind were Kris, then Trish Ostertag.  I also saw Moin Lim and Leslie Miller heading towards the hill then too.

I found it hard to settle myself down after the hill.  I just couldn't seem to relax my heart rate down to a reasonable level, and I was beginning to feel stiffness and fatigue in my legs.  Suddenly, Kim and Tony caught up to me, looking pretty fresh, even as I found myself struggling.  I remarked about this, and Kim told me that anger was motivating her.  Apparently they'd been stopped waiting for traffic for about 45 seconds - a very long time to make runners wait.  I'd never heard of this happening at Nookachamps and am not sure whether this was a case of new volunteers, or whether this was the way they planned for things to be from now on.

In any case, Kim was understandably steamed about it, and this seemed to propel her forward really effectively.  I didn't think I could keep up with her as she tore through miles 10 and 11, and then we started the climb back into town.  My heart rate went back up into the 170s and my pace went back down to 10:40 as we ascended the 100 or so feet.  The 12 mile marker was right at the crest of this last hill.  My watch told me that we'd run for nearly 1:37 by then, which meant I needed to do better than 8:00 for the final 1.1 miles in order to beat 1:45.  I wasn't really sure about this, given how I felt.  I was running with Kim as I climbed the hill - she looked very strong. 

The chart below is the heart rate (red), elevation (brown), and speed (blue) data from the race.  Note the high average line and the overall upward trend to the heart rate.  That's reflective of the poor strategy that I paid for in the late miles.

Two years ago, at about this same place my friend Peter caught up to me.  He'd run a smart race, taking it easy in the early miles, and staying well within himself.  He felt fresh, and coaxed me along through the last mile, exuding positivity, and pulling me along to the fastest half marathon I'd run in 6 years.  So I had Peter in mind as I coaxed a last bit of effort from myself.  I focused on my form, and lengthened my stride and tried to control my breath.  My pace for the final 1.1 miles was 7:05, nearly 1:30/mile faster than the preceding four miles. 

I crossed the finish in 1:44:31, or 29 seconds faster than my goal.

Nathanial had run the 10k, and he was already showered and rested.  John and Nina finished the half well ahead of me.  We hung out at the finish and watched our friends come in, all looking very strong at the finish.  Kim came in right after I did (and probably would have had a better net time without the imposed stop).  Tony came in shortly after.  Mark came in looking strong.  Kris and Randy came in together.  Trish had a nice long, steady stride as she finished.  There were some PRs too - Leslie and Moin established new standards for themselves.