Here's a recap of my first half marathon experience - Mississippi Blues Half Marathon in Jackson, MS on Jan 11, 2014. My only aim was to finish without dying... I had no real time goal and expected to finish in 2:40.
About the race itself:
Pros: I thought it was very well-organized. Packet pick-up was a breeze. Parking was ample and easy. There was a lot of fuel during and after the race. The medal is serious bling and they seem to have a reputation for pretty and nice medals. The volunteers were friendly and very helpful. They offered new race shirts to make up for some defective zippered ones (though I was an idiot and missed the time window to submit my claim form).
Cons: Honestly, I am just nit-picking. There was a bit of a line for the port-a-potty before the race. At some points during the race, there were not many spectators but perhaps that is to be expected in a small(ish) city on a Saturday morning? Also, this was not necessarily a con for me.
My run:
Mile 1 – it was easy and simple. I was happy to be running and when I hit Mile 1, I didn't feel overwhelmed that I had 12 more of this to go (from several blog posts, it seems like that’s a typical feeling). Jackson Univ cheerleaders were somewhere around 1.5 miles and I think they did a good job.
Mile 2 – I totally missed this marker after seeing the cheerleaders and had a qualm about the race for a few moments if mile 1.x was going to feel so long. But I was mostly confident that I had only missed it as half a mile (after Jackson Univ) could not possibly be that long.
Mile 3 – I was happy to see this especially going back through the start line. I started eating my first Gu (energy gel in chocolate outrage flavor - as good as candy!).
Mile 4 – I finished my Gu (ate slowly for one mile) and at this point, felt a little meh.
Mile 5 – I realized I had been running for close to an hour (Walgreens or CVS time display) and wondered if I was going to be quite slower than I intended to be but I convinced myself that I was going to negative split (this means you run the second half of the race faster than you run the first). I believe we split off from the marathoners somewhere here.
Mile 6 – I saw a booth set up by a couple of ladies called Michelle and Tina saying they were so glad the runners were there and it lifted my spirits – wow, they must really be into motivating people... or really bored on a Saturday morning! Just kidding, I was happy they were there too.
Mile 7 – I decided to eat my second Gu. This stretch was a bit weird as we were going near the freeway, I think we even took the ramp at this point. I saw this girl hunched over by the side of the ramp. There was a cop car and a medical crew car, so she had help but I hope she made it. How disappointing must that have felt! I saw some marathoners at this point going on a different loop though I have no idea what mile they were on.
Mile 8 – We crossed the freeway, under the frontage road etc weirdness and as mentioned in the website, the station had Clif shots. I didn’t think I would eat another but I just took one in case, just as I had planned. I took the Double espresso and mean to try it in the future. We were also on the last miles of the marathon (miles 21, 22, 23, etc) from this point.
Mile 9 – I believe I started drinking a bit of Gatorade at the aid stations at this point. I got some up my wind pipe; though I didn't choke, it was mildly uncomfortable for a few minutes. At this point, we were mostly going through neighborhoods, so there were some families out cheering us but oh my god, the hills. They were getting to me at this point. I remember one nice old lady saying – downhill coming up – and thankfully she was right.
Mile 10 – I knew I should really be picking up my pace but the rolling hills didn't help much at all. I was really ready to see mile 12 because that would be the farthest I had run yet.
Mile 11 – I geared up to bring it… but was faced with one of the steepest hills as soon as I crossed the marker. I got irrationally pissed for a moment – who plans a course with a hill right after mile 11? Then I laughed and remembered people saying this in blogs and thinking – um, you chose to run this half marathon…
Mile 12 – I really felt happy at this point. Already I had a distance PR (personal record). I really tried bringing it, probably a little sooner than I intended by way of a full-on run as I felt I was sagging a bit towards the end. I just kept envisioning the end and kept going.
Mile 13 – I vaguely remember seeing this. I think I took my headphones off at some point around this time.
Mile 13.1 – I grabbed a water bottle and a medal. Felt shaky for a bit. Then I refueled with pieces of cookies, tomato basil soup, a slice of pizza and more water.
I finished in 2:37 (the first five miles in 1:02), an overall 11:59 minute per mile pace. Over all, I had a great experience and cannot wait to do it all over again in April...!
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