After a strange Derby 50k just last weekend, I was feeling better, still a little bit tired and tad worried about sugar, given that for the last few sensors it has not been super accurate, but I was ready for this half given that I skipped it last year due to the Shakori race, a 40-mile fun event. In the morning, I had the usual latte with hot cereal and about 20 minutes before the start I took a gel. Like previous years, 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, given that at Derby, it took like 7 miles for my legs and body to start feeling ok. A 3 mile warm up should at least get me somewhat warm and ready. Met with Venu for the final 1/4 mile, and we walked toward the start line, just behind the 3:30 and the sweeper. Which happen to be Tony, from TonyrunsNC, whos was sweeping the course today, similar to couple years ago. 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, during the first few miles, I was feeling good. 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 were good as I started at the back, and slowly, I was figuring out who was ahead and slowly passing them. I passed couple pacer within a few of miles into the half and caught up with the 2:15 pacers. Close to mile 6, near the turnaround, I got to see Arun, Sujit, Malini and others 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. I felt strong enough to sustain a really good pace, but again I started to feel it. 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 has been giving issues for the past few weeks so the sugars could have been higher than what the reading were. I continued as I wanted to finish close to the target but legs were slowing down. The 2:15 passed me and was moving away from me.

Mile 13 to finish: The final stretch is mostly all downhill. I pressed a bit more and finished well under the 2:30 mark. I was very happy to finish again as this was the last 2025 event and see so many friends at the event.

I hang around for a bit at the finish line area. No cool-down mile this time. I stopped to take pictures of many friends. Talked to a few of other 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.

Although one of my slowest Durham 13.1 event I am still happy with the run. I will still need to work to figure things out. As for my sugars, they held “ok”, but when I got home they were thru the roof. Hence the sensor once again providing erroneous readings.

---

Month/Year	Event	Location	Type	Time
Dec-25	Race13.1 Durham Half	NC	Half	2:17:48

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, low 50º with 74% 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 a gel just before the start.

Race: Tailwind I carried with me, water at the stations, no additional gels.

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.