Clark Gardens Half Marathon Race Report

It seems like I have a trend of going out too fast in my races and inflicting misery on myself during the second half.  So my goal for this race was to stay controlled at the beginning and negative split (and a sub-2:00 would be a nice bonus).  I caught a peek at my Garmin at about the 1/2-mile mark and saw 8:32 pace, so I backed off.  Also, my buddy Christie got ahead of me early on and I didn't worry about it... I just ran my own race. 

Mile Splits: 8:50, 9:19, 8:54, 8:43, 8:56, 9:13, 8:56, 8:49, 8:49, 8:26, 8:46, 9:07, 8:48

Total Time: 1:57:06 (chip time), 13.17 miles (Garmin), 8:53/mile pace (Garmin)

Place: 5th in female 30-39 age group

The course was a little less than half on the trail (which was similar to the Trinity Trail... flat and wide) and a little more than half on the roads.  There were a few rollers, and I remember a pretty long, gradual climb around mile 6 (which explains the random 9:13 split).  I kept going back-and-forth with a group of 4 guys (all wearing basketball shorts, coincidentally), so that kept me motivated during the first half and middle of the race.  Then one guy broke from the pack and I tried to stay with him and I eventually caught a few girls (including one tiny blond girl in a really cute outfit with bootie shorts and shoes that matched her top). 

A lil' bling:

This was a great training run and it gave me a little confidence boost.  Now I need to figure out what races to do at the end of 2012.  I'm thinking about a 20-miler in October or November and the White Rock Marathon in December.