Real David H.

There are so many things about the Runner’s World Festival weekend that were just simply amazing. It was truly a weekend to celebrate running and runners of all levels.

With so many other things going on this weekend with my wife and son running, as well as the first-ever #RunChat meet-up, running a half marathon today became a small part of why I made this trip to Bethlehem, Pa.

Scott and I discussed how we’d approach this and probably never really came up with a plan other than go out somewhat easy and see how we feel. For me, my ultimate goal was to finish at a marathon goal pace.

For the Richmond Marathon I want to do between 3:40 and 3:45, so that meant I was aiming for 1:50-1:52:30 today.

The results …

In a word, I nailed it. I couldn’t be more pleased with how it all transpired.

Scott and I had a nice conversation going on for about 6 miles in a 8:30-8:40 pace through what was essentially mostly uphill. Around mid-way the conversation drifted off and we just got into our own separate zones.

Around mile 10 I picked it up and rolled off a strong final 5k with my miles right around 8 minutes each.

I screwed up early by accidentally stopping my Garmin, so I’m not sure how much of a negative split I rolled off, but it felt great to push it toward the end. So many of my races this year have been missing that.

I struggled in the 2nd half of the Blue Ridge Half, Cleveland and even the Virginia 10 Miler to some degree. My 5k in July had a weak finish as well.

Today, though, I set out with everything I intended to do and I can’t wait to see what that means for Richmond in 3 weeks.