I ran the inaugural Saltair Half Marathon this morning. Weather forecast didn't look good but it turned out to be bearable conditions. The wind picked up a bit after the turn around and my hands felt like bricks afterwards; but for the most part I was expecting a lot worse. Warmed up 3 with the group and the race started right on time. I accidentally built a slight lead in the first three miles -5:15,5:16,5:14- because that pace felt comfortable then I backed it off slightly and did the next three in 5:24,5:27,5:22. At about mile 6 I started to hear footsteps from Jake and Nate and we all went through the turnaround in right around 35 flat. From there they immediately put a gap on me and at that point I knew I wasn't going to be able to finish with them. My last seven miles were: 5:21,5:27,5:26,5:27,5:43,5:36,5:22. I think the 5:43 at mile 10 was into the heaviest winds because I didn't feel like I slowed down that much. I ended up about a minute behind Jake and Nate who both ran great and barely broke 1:10. Overall I am happy with the effort but I kind of wish I had just stuck with Jake and Nate from the get go to see if working off of them would have helped. Oh well...after the race we cooled down then attended the awards ceremony. Consistent with the Saltair scene, we had Fat Boy ice cream sandwiches and Dr. Pepper for post race snacks.
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