~13.1 miles @ ~8.8 min/mi

The hills giveth (outbound) and the hills taketh away (on the home stretch). Goldfinches flit across the road as we set out on Riley's Rumble, a summer half-marathon. Today is thankfully cool and cloudy. Pace is too fast for the first few miles, and the result is a few minutes slower than last year's PB but still happily under 2 hours. I try to "Soften into Experience" and "Notice the Music", current mantras that seem to help. The Aloe Blacc song "Wake Me Up When It's All Over" is on heavy mental rotation. At mile ~11 a young guy passes me and comments on the hills ahead. "Don't say the H-Word!", I admonish him.

Based on course markings painted on the road, splits are: 8.1 + 7.9 + 8.3 + 9.1 + 8.0 + 9.1 + 8.4 + 9.5 + 9.4 + 8.7 + 8.4 + 9.7 + 8.7 and a final ~0.1 mile fraction in 0.8 min. I finish behind 23 women and 93 men. Alice Franks, age 66, chats with me in the initial miles, then blasts ahead to finish 1:49:30. We start perhaps ~10 seconds behind the line.

Runkeeper and Garmin GPS record the route.

(photos by Dan Reichmann)

For comparison:

• 1:54:18 - 2014-08-03 - Riley's Rumble MCRRC Half Marathon Race
• 1:52:33 - 2013-08-04 - MCRRC Riley's Rumble Half Marathon Race
• 1:59:44 - 2012-08-05 - Riley's Rumble Half Marathon (warm and humid)
• 2:10:34 - 2011-08-07 - Riley's Rumble Half Marathon 2011 (meltdown!)
• 1:57:33 - 2010-07-25 - Riley's Rumble (race declared a "fun run" due to excessive heat and humidity)
• 1:55:25 - 2009-07-26 - Riley's Rumble Half Marathon (unofficial new course, possibly long?)

^z - 2014-08-19