After a very successful Derby 50k just last weekend, I was feeling great, still a little bit tired and just a tad worried about my left knee, but I was ready for this half prior to next week’s event, a 40-mile fun event. In the morning, I had the usual latte with hot cereal and ate a banana about 20 minutes before the start. Like last year, I like this event location since it is close to home and has a very flat course at the American Tobacco Trail. There, I met with a few friends from previous events, like Skinny Turkey, the City of Oaks Marathon, and the InsaneRunning group. It was great to get connected once again with friends and other runners.

For today’s event warm-up, I decided to do an extended warm-up to let the left knee really warm up before the event and be able to press the pace. Met with Venu for the final 1/4 mile, and we walked toward the start line, just behind the 2:15 pacers at the start line, and after a few announcements, the National Anthem, off we went.

Mile 1-6: Temperatures were awesome. The clouds offered very nice coverage, and there was a very nice mist that occasionally helped me cool off. During the first few miles, I was feeling great, but I did not want to make the mistake from last year of going way too fast. So, I took it easy at a healthy pace that I was going to sustain for the most part of the 1st portion of the event. I am familiar with the course as I have run this trail/greenway many times during the year. The course turned very flat after mile 2, with only a few long rolling hills that were not really that challenging or requiring much effort. I ran by feel and effort rather than looking at the splits. My legs and left knee were good as I started at the back, and slowly, I was figuring out who was ahead and slowly passing them. I passed a pacer within a couple of miles into the half. Close to mile 6, near the turnaround, I got to see Kaleel, Venu, and Jamie already heading back, and I decided to press the pace a tad more after the turnaround. Sugars are okay; they’re just a tad on the high side.

Miles 7-12:  After the turnaround, I continued to press the effort at a steady pace. Slowly passing runners one by one. Unlike last year, I felt strong enough to sustain a really good pace. I continue to sip my energy drink about every mile, using the mile marker as a queue to drink some. Sugars were holding steady on the upper end, but the sensor expired and stopped providing readings. That was ok, as we were on the way back, and I was feeling good. Took a gel about mile 8, I knew it was not for now, but for later, as the last mile or so, there are a couple of inclines that, more often than not, get a few runners trying to sustain their pace. I continued as I wanted to finish close to the target.

Mile 13 to finish: The final stretch is mostly all downhill. I pressed a bit more and finished just under the 2-hour mark, about 3 minutes or so past the 2:00-hour mark. I was very happy to finish again and see so many friends at the event.

I hang around for a bit at the finish line area. I headed out with Jamie to complete a cool-down mile that took me back to meet Kaleel and Venu, who were helping pace another excellent runner. I stopped to take pictures of many friends on their way to the finish line, including a friend of my daughter, Sidney, and Charu, who came from finishing his 1st 50k last weekend always smiling.

After the cool-down, I talked to a few of the runners and friends, chatting about upcoming events and tomorrow’s training run. It was so great to see and talk to so many friends and people at the event.

I’m pretty happy with today’s performance, coming from an excellent 50k and being able to push the pace to come in under 2-hours today. As for my sugars, they held ok, almost within the upper range, for the most part. Today the fueling plan worked really well, and my legs although slightly tired held pretty well.

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Month/Year	Event	Location	Type	Time
Dec-23	Race13.1 Durham Half	NC	Half	1:57:48

Event Highlights

Course: Great ample trail/greenway right of the start, long rolling hills. With the ample road, there is no problem starting and finding a comfortable pace.

Venue: At a parking lot area near a Big Shopping Center, with plenty of bathrooms and food for before and after the event.

Expo: No Expo.

Weather: Mostly cloudy skies with some sprinkles, 60º with 87% humidity.

T1D: Sugars were within running range on the high side and were stable throughout the event.

Fueling:

Pre-Race: 1 serving of Hot Cereal, latte, and banana.

Race: E-fuel and Tailwind I carried with me, water at the stations, and two gels (1GU and 1Maurten).

Post: Protein Shake within an hour of the event.

Learning Points:

• The warm-up 3-mile run was fantastic for my left knee. Setting an easily sustainable initial pace that I considered using for the event.
• Applying the learning from the previous events in regards to fueling and initial pacing to enable a more consistent performance throughout the event.