Blogathon Day Ten: Half Marathon Post-Mortem. Or is it a Post-Marathon Half Mortem?

It's been a half week since the half marathon, so I figure this is the most fitting time to do a post-mortem on the race and wrap up my coverage of the Country Music Marathon.

Biggest Mistake: I definitely made some missteps on nutrition the day of the race. Mostly, I brought entirely too much with me. I used all three shot bloks I had (which is, incidentally, one serving), but I only used one of the elctrolyte pills, one of the Gu's (because the the plural of Gu can't be Gus, that's a name), and maybe two of the fig newtons. I didn't even touch my power bar until after the race was over and even then it was just to make sure my keys were still in my pocket. It's not a mistake I regret making. I didn't want to hit the wall and have nothing up my sleeve. That would've been a disgraceful way to end the race and would have cast a pall over the entire half marathon experience.

Proudest Moment: I'm not going to say "crossing the finish" line for two reasons. One, it is cliche and everyone says that. Two, as you could tell from the video, I was strictly business when I crossed the finish line. My proudest moment was when I got the medal shortly after crossing the finish line and I realized that I had really done it. To paraphrase Lonely Island "This ain't Sea World, this is as real as it gets. I ran a Half Marathon, don't you ever forget!"

Biggest Surprise: The biggest surprise would be how many people I had to pass during the race. Part of this would happen naturally since my strategy left brief windows for nearby slowpokes to pass me. But I did not expect to pass nearly as many people as I did (since passing people was something that never came up during training). The downside is I may have rubbed elbows with people in entirely the wrong way near the end. I'm starting to suspect people might exaggerate their corral time so they can leave sooner. It's a smart move really. Get more of your run taken care of before the day truly begins. It's not like there's a bonus prize for beating your corral time. If there is, then I did not receive it on the race day and would like to inquire how I might claim my prize.

Second Biggest Surprise: That would have to be Miles 9.5 through 12.5 simply because any specific details about that stretch of road would be a surprise to me. I sincerely do not remember what happened there besides the fact that it was starting to get hot and there was no shade except for a few bridges. Special shout out goes to Sharon Perry for bringing a cold towel to me (and a rousing speech) as I passed Mile 9. The towel helped a lot, but mostly I appreciate having a clear reminder of what was happening during Mile 9.