I had a good long run. I started out planning on racing it. The first mile was REALLY slow due to no start coral. There were some hills, but I was averaging an 8:35 pace (goal was 8:30). I slowed down on a hill around mile 8, but I was feeling good. I had some problems mentally around mile 10 and lost some time. Then just after the 12 mile marker and a woman in front of me tripped over a cone. She was just sitting there. So, I stopped and helped to get her up and running again. I stopped my watch while I was helping her up. I then ran with with her for half a mile.
My goal was to have fun and I did. I made sure to high five EVERY kid I saw. According to my watch I finished in just under 2 hours. I'm not going to check the official time. My goal was to have fun and I did.

I will admit I really wanted a 1:51 half. I fully believe I could have done it, but I wasn't mentally able to handle the pain that I would have had to deal with. Miles 11-13.1 would have hurt (as they should have) if I had held pace. I did a good job thinking positive thoughts, but when the going got really tough I had to back down. It was a tough day and I learned a lot about myself. I also learned that I am a little faster than last year. Which means I managed not only to maintain, but to get better in the past year. That and I got to wear jeans that I haven't fit into since last May yesterday!!!!

I have many more things to say about the race. I want to write about what caused me to loose mental focus. I'm too worn out and hungry tonight. I'll think on it and write a complete race report soon.