Today, I ran a the Santa Cruz half marathon in 1:28:32 (6:45 min/mile).

This is a new PR for me on the distance by 1 minute and 21 seconds. It pleases me a lot because I have been training very hard running 2,100 miles in the last 365 days.

Also, Santa Cruz is my favorite half marathon so it is nice to run a PR there again like I did in 2010. The course is really nice, the race well organized, and the field size is great to make it enjoyable without feeling suffocated.

New this year was the presence of a pacer team. I ran most of the race 100-200 yards behind the 1:30 pacer. I had not really managed to stick with him early on but having him as a target was good enough as it motivated me to keep on running hard even when I ended up alone. And then later, on our way back W Cliff Dr, I finally overtook him with a bit more than 2 miles to go as I was down to a 6:30/mile pace.

The table above says I finished 24th for the marathon (there was a 5K and 10K as well) but once you add back the 6 overall winners, 3 male and 3 female runners that all ran faster, then I actually finished 30th.

Back to Napa Valley for my 5th marathon. As I stated 3 years ago when I ran the same marathon, the race is very well organized. Bib pickup extends late in the evening on Saturday and I was given a duffel bag to use as sweat bag. In the morning, buses took us to the starting line swiftly and efficiently. Along the course, the water stations are well manned and at the end, the volunteers are very helpful after you cross the finish line. Since the marathon finishes in a school, you can even take a shower and they have hot soup served in the cafeteria!

The weather was good for March with temperatures optimally in the mid 50s. We did not escape the rain but still, there was a lot less than 3 years ago so I did not end up soaked this time.

For this race, I ran mostly on heart race trying to keep it under 160 BPM for the first half marathon and letting it go up after that.

I had a very good race managing to maintain an even pace for both halves, 1:36:26 for the first half and 1:36:39 for the second half, finishing in 3:13:05 for 84th overall.

That is a new PR for me by 12 minutes and only 3 minutes away from the time I need to qualify for Boston.

All those miles I have been running in the last year or so have started to pay. Looking forward to see if I can beat my half marathon PR in April and I will of course attempt to break the 3:10 mark for my next marathon.