Atlanta Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

Strong run. Another PR. First time using HRM in a race. My goal was to keep HR just below LT, but also, use RPE to set pace. I wound up holding 1-2 bpm below LT (170 as tested, but, it is likely higher now based on RPE and recent runs) Once the hills started in mile 8 with Cardiac hill, it was time to push. I went up most of th hills using RPE, looking at my HRM for reference. I was 170-174 on most of the hills. The last time I ran the hilly section of the half course was during the P'tree road race and they kicked my butt. This time, I ran strong up the hills. I was very pleased with my performance. I had a strong kick at the end and passed a ton of people in the last 3 miles. The only negatives from the race are that I had to pull over to pee in mile 2 which cost me 30 seconds, and, in the last mile I had a nasty side stitch. It felt like I was stabbed in the side. It slowed me down for a bit, but I was able to recover and finish strong.

Overall, this was a great effort on a tough course! I set a PR on a pancake flat course about 4 weeks ago. Today, I set a minute and a half PR on a much tougher course.

I thought the race was well organized, well stocked, and the volunteers were great. This had the atmosphere of a big time event. Once again, the Atlanta Track Club did an outstanding job!