My third half-marathon was the Grand Island half marathon and was part of the “Buffalo News Series” races so it’s a bit more competitive. I knew I had to be around 1:40:00 if I even wanted a chance to place. I did a lot more running than I did for my first 2 half marathons but still followed no kind of training plan and still had a lot to learn. Around mile 4 I was STARVING; clearly I did not carb load properly. I did incorporate the use of GU energy gel, which I did us in my practice runs after making the mistake of experimenting with energy gels on race day during my previous half marathon; this approach turned out much better this time around!
I finished the race in 1:42:20, once again finishing 4th in my age division. I was much happier with this performance than with my first half marathon experiences because I actually put some real effort into this one, which led to some real progression. I wasn’t nearly as sore as I was after my first 2 half marathons and felt very accomplished after this one.
I was now fully hooked and wanted to run another one so I decided I would head to TX again in the fall for another shot and hopefully another PR. Stay tuned…
Head on over to my next half marathon blog!
