Sixth year participating in The Bull City Race Fest Half Marathon. Another year another great event. Once again, similar to last year there are no plans for PR today. Pushed the pace a little bit and ran it by effort. For the City of Oaks Marathon, I am not pacing so I can’t really destroy my legs in this event. Some runners from our Insane Running group are joining today, as we were starting the training for Umstead a couple of weeks back. For the morning routine, the usual hot cereal, coffee, some water, and this time I am testing KetoneIQ, but different from last year, I am planning to use it mid event. As I am trying to practice for what will be coming up for Umstead 100. Sugars were in range at the start of the event.

After an easy 1-mile warm up job, to give the legs a chance to get loose before the start of the event.

It was great to see many of the friends from the training group, as well as others we normally see each other passing by during the training runs.

Miles 1-3

As I started with Jay, way in the back of corral A. It was a slow-going pace to get used to running close to 11:00. For the next couple of miles, I was able to find a good decent running pace to sustain between 11:00-10:30 pace for the first few miles. Same new route from last year. It was ok, just a tad narrow for how many runners, but for the most part steady pace.

Miles 4-7

The next few miles, I felt like I was able to loosen up more. Jay and I continued to talk about family, work and AI. Since I was carrying my energy fuel, I decided to skip the 1st couple of water stations. The rolling hills continue, making it a constant change of pace due to the ups and downs. But I was surprised to see that I was still holding on to that ~10:30 pace pretty well. Slower than last year, but solid pace considering. Sugars were in range by the time the sensor stopped working due to the low temperatures.

My legs were ok, I believe the strength training is paying off although I was feeling my quads a little bit due to the downhills but nothing compared to last year. With the temperature still in the low 50s by now, I am still feeling like I’m overheating and removed my gloves and neck warmer. I was pleased to still have very controlled HR so far.

Miles 8-11

In the last few miles, I was tackling the up hills with ease at the same pace or increasing the cadence a little bit. But at this time, I needed water, so after the water station just before a longer hill, I started to walk up for a few to have a good drink. But I think I walked more than I really should have. After reaching the crest of the hill, I concentrated on the beat of my music and continued to have controlled breathing. I started to feel better, but not enough to press the pace. Some of the water stations were set up on the outer side of the sharp turns, making it really inconvenient and out of the way to be able to grab any kind of fluids.

Miles 12-Finish

These last two miles are mostly downhill. I took advantage and pressed the pace a bit more with Jay; I took advantage of the water station and grabbed a couple of cups of water.

At the finish area, I was able to catch up with a few other friends, get some water, and exchange a few of the learnings and experiences from the event. No cool down today.

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Month/Year	Event	Location	Type	Time
Oct-26	Bull City Half	NC	Half	2:20:59

Highlights:

Course: Great ample road right from the start. Great scenery as you basically stroll the city streets and greenways of Durham. There are hills and more hills, some rolling, others just a tad steeper. You will need to constantly manage your pace and effort, as you do not want to run out of steam in the later parts of the event because you tackled the hill too aggressively.

Venue: At the finish, it was good, simple but effective. A few vendors and food trucks.

Expo: No Expo

Weather: Good weather with minimal clouds until the finish. 47º with just 79% humidity.

T1D: Sugars were good at the start and held pretty well in range throughout the event.

Fueling:

Pre-Race: 1 serving of Hot Cereal and Latte.

Race: Gu caffeinated gel at mile 7 and an energy drink I was carrying with me.

Post: Protein shake and lots of water.