I was the lone runner from the Uniited States in this whole event! had a great race and killed my previous half marathon record ran in march by ~14 minutes. Huge improvement!!! Got to run through an Italian city and through streets and alleyways that were over 1000 years old. Got a great finisher's package including a medal, duffelbag, 2 asics running shirts (1 long sleave, one tank top) headbands, and sweat towl! plus there was free gelato and lots of sports drinks.
I started way back. Not know any language. I realized about 1 minute before the start that i was well behind the 2:00 pace group. doh!!! i was passing a lot of people in the first 5 miles or so. I was running at a good clip, and keeping my stride very small and controlled, while moving my legs faster. This, i have found out is a highly efficient way to run. Not only did i keep my heart rate and effort to a minimum, but my knees felt great. No problems at all, and I ran 10 miles only 2 days before. Caught up to the 1:35 pace group at around kilometer 13 and was totally stoked! I couldn't believe i had been running a faster pace than 1:35 throughout the whole race with such easy effort. Passed them up and pushed on. finally settled in with a group of runners that were keeping a strong pace and stayed with them until the last kilometer or so where they pulled away. I decided not to push myself and dig deep the last couple of miles, though I knew I had it in me. I was more than happy with my pace to finish below 1:35. Finished the race feeling great at 1:32:46!! well within boston qualifying pace. I'm going to be looking for the 3:10 pace group at the california international marathon in december and stick with that. I'm totally stoked on this. Great race, and great time in this city. Saw some unfortunate scenes on the race though. The first being one of the elite women had to end the race early, and was limping back to the start after only 1 kilometer or so. the other being that one of the elite african runners had collapsed about half way through the race. an ambulance was there and people were attending to him. he looked pretty out of it. it got me a little worried about pushing myself for too long of a distance. I may have slowed my pace a little cause of that.
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