Cleveland Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

I really enjoyed the course. I found and just stayed with the 3:55 pace group. I figured that this would be perfect to bring me in under 2 hours like I wanted. It was great and worked for about the first 9.5 miles, but then there was a pretty rough hill right before the 10 mile marker. The first hour of the run flew by, but the sun was starting to heat up big time. By the time I got to that hill, people were vocally happy about any bit of shade we could get. I made it up the hill decently, but about a 1/4 mile later, I had to walk. Between the heat and not being very well prepared for this, my legs were shot and I was hitting a wall. Walked about 1/2 a mile and then started up again, but at a slower pace. I had skipped the first water station - I was totally not expecting it to be like a shark feeding-frenzy - but I made sure I hit most every one after that (some kid was handing out bottled water at mile 3, so I got one and carried it with me, drinking as needed, occasionally pouring some over my head). At each station I was drinking a Powerade and dumping a water over me. Grabbed a Gu at the Mile 9 Gu station, only took half of it.... in hindsight, having a Gu with me earlier, at like Mile 7 or 8, might have kept me from needing to walk at 10. In any case, once I got going again, I took an easy pace until Mile 12 and then I picked it up... the end was in sight. I still had plenty in me for a strong kick at the end.

I'd train more beforehand, maybe a sun visor or a cap..... and sunscreen.

Anything to mitigate the effect of the sun.

Coming through the chute, I grabbed one of every bit of food and beverage they had, walked around for a couple of hours chatting with a friend while we waited for her husband to finish the Full.


Lack of training, and the heat, and my body just not being prepared for this at all.


I was completely unprepared for this. Due to injury, I just started running again a month ago. When I got injured, my longest run was 6 miles and it wasn't with any real frequency. I did what I could in the last several weeks, however, and I got to the finish line. I had two goals for today - run the whole thing without walking, and finish in under 2 hours. I met neither goal, but I'm not terribly disappointed.