Last weekend was the Shogun Warrior's 2nd Annual Monster Mash half marathon. The course mostly followed the Perimeter Road route with the addition of Fairchild Ave up to the USO and going past Bob Hope, finishing in the back of Risner.
My plan was to run this one at an easy training pace, finishing in the 2:45 range. I started off in the back of the pack (I think at one point I was DFL), walking the uphills, and generally using the first couple of miles to just warm up. I focused on keeping my RPE safely in the green zone and not on my watch. Around mile 6, I realized that I was cruising along very comfortably at a 10 min/mile pace. My PR pace 9:52 - holy guacamole, was I really in PR range??
I knew we were in the flattest part of the course with some good sized hills over the last miles. The morning was quickly heating up too. And with Kumejima and Shouhashi back to back, do I want to go all out now and risk a worse performance later? But my half marathon record has mocked me since September 2005. I decided to go for it.
I surged through the last of the flight line and pushed my way up the hills on Fairchild. Picking off and passing road kill was a nice ego boost while ticking off the last miles. Then a nasty surprise - another loop. I could finally see Risner - the end was near! the final push! - when a volunteer directed us to keep running. Crushed. We needed to pass through the finish area once (such a tease!) and circle near Outdoor Rec and Jennings housing then back to the actual finish line.
2:08:31!!
Amazing! Never thought I'd see a new half PR. I dropped almost 40 minutes from my springtime halves (and definitely an improvement over my first race on Kadena's Perimeter Road). Crazy what can happen with some actually training lol
