Greer Earth Day Half Marathon....

Well today was the day. I walked out this morning and was not pleased with the less than springlike weather in the air. Cool was not really part of the words I would use to describe the weather.

We also were out of bananas. That was bad. I normally eat a banana before a run. I am pretty superstitious and starting out without my normal race day breakfast didn't make me feel too good. We stopped by Bi-Lo on the way to the race, but their bananas were still green. Well, we got to the race and things moved pretty well. We got in and hit the facilities and wandered around. There were a bunch of people signing up on race day. They also had a little trouble with some no-show volunteers. My only regret at this point was that I didn't make one more trip to the rest room while waiting for the start. So, after the start I felt the urge to go starting at about the one mile mark. I figured I would sweat it out, and sure enough I did. Unfortunately it wasn't until about the 11th mile....

My plan was to go out at a comfortable pace, around 9:15 for the first 2 miles and then pick up to about 8:45 for 3 or 4 miles and then ease up to about 9:00 and go as far as I could at that pace. Everything was going well until they started the race. I shot off way too fast and sped up for a couple of miles. The 4th mile is pretty much uphill and the sun and heat started hitting me pretty good here too. I still kept up a pretty good pace and skipped the port-o-john, despite my body suggesting otherwise. I cruised through the first 10 miles and was sitting on a about a 8:24 pace. I actually had a shot at a PR! That was when the heat and hills caught up with me. I also was a little low on fluids. I struggled in at what was officially a 1:57 and a 9 minute pace, but I was actually on about an 8:55 pace if you factor in that I ran 13.25 miles according to the Garmin.

Either way, I was under 2 hours and felt pretty good about it. The race was fun and the crowd was good. The GTC Singlet Sighting giveaways were great too. Lee got a nice running visor and I got a running visor and two pairs of running socks. All together we got about $56 worth of prizes. The message here is "Join the Greenville Track Club!"

There were some issues with getting the results, but I knew it didn't affect me. Later on we found out that Lee won her age group (again) in the 5K. We will go pick her trophy up tomorrow! She is getting quite a collection and I may have to build a shelf for her awards.