Half Marathon Fully Run...

The plan was to get out for my long run early this morning. Woke up at 6am to thunderstorms and heavy rain, went back to sleep. Woke up at 7am and it appears that the storm passed and I could get ready to roll. By the time I got out of bed, ready, stretched it was closer to 8am. Still, not bad timing as I beat the heat that was to come this afternoon. The run was good, I slowed the pace down based on the article read the other day and I tell ya what, it sure felt like more of a workout. So I did two other things different on this run as well 1) Used two gel packs, and 2) brought water along. The water obviously was a huge help as even at 8-9 am it was humid and I was sweating like crazy. I purchased one of those belt dealies that has a water bottle holder that sits right up against your lower back (needed to make sure it was tight, but worked fine otherwise). The weight from the water was a little different for me, but I knew it was necessary. By mid-run it was half gone and I didn't even notice it after that. The gels were different for me as I typically don't use anything. They felt like they really gave me an energy boost where I don't typically have one, so I might give them another go on the next long run.

Overall, I put in 13.1 with a .6 mile warm down. 2:10:xx for the 13.1 and just in time as the sun was starting to come out of the clouds making it pretty unbearable. So, overall, I'm on track for my 17 miler by early Sept. although, I might try to plan out a flatter course for my first attempt at that one. :-)