My goal for this race was based on the results leading up to it and several calculators that all basically said I was good for 3:35 or 8:13 miles. I waffled back and forth on whether or not that was realistic and decided to trust my training and those who came before me that came up with the calcs.

Since the course has a quick uphill/downhill over the first 6 miles, and then climbs steadily from 7 to 18, I figured I would get behind my goal pace and that I should go ahead and let it happen. To that end, I started the race with the 3:40 pace group. It's not like there was a 3:35 group anyway.

I planned on sticking with the group until a little past halfway and then evaluating how I felt. When we finished mile 16, we had about 40 seconds or so in the bank for the 3:40 time, the weather was perfect, and I felt great. I told the pacer that hopefully I wouldn't see her again and started to pick up the pace. It's pretty obvious from looking at my mile splits when I took off.

The next 2 miles were still relatively uphill (hence the 8:13 for 18), but once you hit that marker, the course trended down significantly: nearly 30 feet per mile the rest of the way. There were a couple of short steep hills left to navigate, but for the most part it was a very fast finish.

I let my heart rate come up a bit and just pushed steady all the way through the finish. I don't think I could have covered that back 1/3 any fast than I did.

I'm pretty certain that I could crack 3:30. If I had gone out with the 3:30 group, I may have been able to hang on. There was a big mental difference between my goal of 8:13 and that pace of 8:00, though. Live and learn.

I'm still thrilled with my result.

Waited in the finish chute for a little while for the 3:40 group so I could congratulate them, got my medal and finisher's shirt, then headed back over to City Hall to pick up my finisher's jacket for the Distance Challenge.


Not too much other than genetics. If I had started this cycle of training with a larger base, I could have probably gone faster. I don't think I've quite hit my best performance yet, but I'm getting close.


I didn't stick around for the marathon activities, but they looked decent. The free food selection was pretty limited, though the chicken noodle soup was a nice touch.

Still, it's a well run race with lots of volunteers and a fairly pretty course that winds through a variety of Austin neighborhoods. 10th largest marathon in the country now, apparently.