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Pittsburgh Half Marathon, Part 2

...Okay, now on to the play-by-play of the race.

Warm-up
Got up crazy early, but at this point I actually feel pretty darn good. Had my Honey Stinger waffles, hydrated with a little water, and just generally tried to stay relaxed. Also, I didn't have my normal pre-race #2 issues, so that was a pleasant surprise.

Miles 1-3
Gun goes off, and I feel great. I mean, like perfect. Today's my day. First mile: 5:02. Effortless. Next mile, looking at the clock: 5:00. Third mile: 5:04. I can run this pace all day. Only problem: I'm running this all by myself. The pack of Africans and a few Americans was gone before 2 miles. There are a couple stragglers off the back, focus on getting them.

Miles 4-6
Nope. Not my day. I was just kidding with that first 3 miles. The stragglers aren't coming back; actually, they're running away from me. I'm struggling to maintain low-5 pace at this point...it's gonna be a grind the second half of the race.

Miles 7-10
The loneliness of the long distance runner. I'm by myself at this point...no one's close in front of me, and no one's close behind me. I'm in no-man's-land, exactly where I hoped not to be coming to a race like this. Falling off pace, struggling to stay strong.

Miles 11-13.1
Get your s*!% together, man. You've got a 5k left, you can suck it up and gut it out. One person came back to me hard, and now I can see a couple more up ahead...pretty far ahead, but maybe perhaps hopefully within striking distance. Gather momentum on the "flattest mile on the course" before heading uphill towards Duquesne. They're coming back; reel them in. Crest the hill, and then fly down a screaming fast downhill last mile. I'm not going to catch those guys, but I may be able to salvage a decent time.

Finish
1:07:41. 10th place. Maybe top 5 Americans? Not quite. Disappointing. Not exhausted, not worn down, just disappointed. I know that time's not indicative of the fitness I'm in right now. Talk to some of the other guys who finished ahead of me, and I feel a little better hearing that they all felt the same way. The course was generally flat, but deceptively hillier than I think we all thought it would be. Seems like most of us ran about a minute-to-a-minute-and-a-half slower than we thought we were in shape. That's how it goes though, not use losing sleep over it.

While the race itself may have been less-than-satisfactory, the experience itself was worth it. Definitely considering Pittsburgh for future events.
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