Portland Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

Overall my pace was about 23-24 seconds too slow for most of race - think it was mental at that point. Did think that in long training runs was running around 1:30 slower than RP unlikc marathon last year where I ran 1:00 slower than RP - next time run only 60 not 90 seconds slower
Took 4 gels in belt, used 3, each around every 4 miles. This felt just right - at one point around mile 8 did start to feel a bit bloated from gels and ultima at aid stations, so skipped next aid station and that leveled things out.
Running form felt good - very solid throughout, didn't feel like it collapsed at the end
Also using negative splits in long runs was a great tactic - actually felt a little kick in last few miles of race, didn't feel that dropping off of pace that normally do

Get to race earlier - Know how to get to my starting point!
I ended up walking around the entire starting area to get to my area - so I only had a few minutes to hit the can, and was still 30-40 people back when the gun was about to go off - so ran without going, and around mile 10 I had to hit the head, which added around 3:13 to my overall time.

Stretches - lots of walking around
Ate grapes, juice, chips
thank goodness I brought extra dry clothes


I think I needed to train closer to my RP than I did, about 30 seconds closer. Felt like had a good pace but it was a bit too slow - also think I'm still fighting the mental hurdle to kick it up and keep the RP - 8:00 in this case, which I should have been able to accomplish.


By taking out the bathroom trip, this is what my time should have been:
Total time 1:47:49 (take 3:10 off for bathroom based on avg split times)
Overall place 119/2246 (5%) Official place 160/2246 (7%)
Males 81/521 (16%) Official place 100/521 (19%)
M 40-44 19/91 (21%) Official place 22/91 (24%)
Masters 39/348 (11%) Official place 49/348 (14%)