Sedona Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

This run went much better than I expected. Part of that may be because I've been training on trails rather than roads and so I really had no realistic estimate for my time. Nonetheless, I figured I'd finish in about 2:30 and was hoping for a 2:15 finish. Instead I came in at 2:11, woot!!

I started off slightly faster than I might have normally just to try to get warm, but as I kept moving the pace felt good and I decided to keep it since it wasn't a challenge. I was surprised at how easy it felt to be running on pavement. I was also really surprised to find myself passing people on hills. Hills are generally my nemeses so to find that I was struggling with them less than other people was not only rare but a serious confidence boost. I managed to keep an even pace for pretty much the entire race and still had some energy left at the end. I brought a gel with me but never ate it, instead I just drank electrolyte drinks at most of the drink stations. I skipped a few stations on the way out, but hit almost all of them on the way back just to make sure I didn't crash.

In the last two miles the pace was still fine, but my joints (knees and hips mostly) began to hurt a whole lot, I gritted through the pain and made myself keep going, because I could tell it wasn't injury provoking but it did put a damper on my last two miles. By the time I got within sight of the finish line I decided to sprint just so I could be done sooner. It felt pretty good to haul ass to the end though.

I think I would train a little bit more on pavement next time so that I have a better idea of what my pace should be. I was super happy with my pace this time, but I honestly think I could have run the race a bit faster. Regardless this was my first half marathon (and my longest run to date) so I am very pleased with the results and now I have a time to beat the next time around.

Walked around in circles and walked to the car, felt pretty good and was not too sore the next day. Probably should have walked more though.


Nothing really, I held back because I wanted to be sure I could finish the distance. I think I could run it faster next time now that I have a better idea of what I'm capable of.


The volunteers were all very helpful and there were plenty of drink stations.