Sat. the 15th, 9:00 AM, Oklahoma State Championship Half Marathon...Madill Oklahoma.
Start Temp hi 50's, Daytime high of 88, clear skies, almost no wind.
Not sure of the runner count, probably 75 or so in the 1/2 marathon.
Not real large, but big for southern Oklahoma. A very well organized race, with a small town atmosphere.
I try to use this race as a gauge of my marathon conditioning.
So, to make a long story short, my conditioning is not where it was at this time last year.....
I was hoping to have a different discovery.

The start was slow, weaving around the 5k and 10k'ers.....and the kiddo's...Leveled out my pace at about the 3 mile mark, breathing was good, felt great...was not sure of my pace since the mile markers are hard to find.
But when I made the half way point I had a 50:49 within 10 seconds of my goal which would put me close to last years PR of 1:41:26. I am about 10th place overall, which is good for this race. I am extremely shocked, (the first 10 places are declared the State champs, obviously there are faster runners in the state, but, hey the competition is who ever shows up). I was hoping for a PR this year, but I would satisfy for a similar performance as last years.
Mile 7, legs are getting tired, the heat is getting a bit tougher, a 37 year old training friend (Kevin) passes me, I wish him luck.
Mile 9 is where I usually know if I am going to have a good day, 3 more pass me.
Now I am hoping for at least a sub 1:45.
I see my friend up ahead, he is being passed, so I know he is struggling, which surprised me.
Later I see him walk through mile 10, I figure I will likely catch up with him eventually.
At mile 11 I feel a little better and begin to pick the pace up, of course the downhill slope has nothing to do with it.
My friend is a few hundred yards ahead of me. I catch him with 3/4 of a mile to go, hoping I can help him pick up the pace, but he was wasted. I keep going hoping I could a least maintain my current position. There are 2 runners a few hundred yards behind me.
I start picking it up....the finish is in sight, I manage a impressive (at least to me, hehe) sprint to the finish, I don't see anyone behind me...
Final 1:45:58, my worse 1/2 in years.
Final place was 17th, 3rd in my age group....(last year I was first in my age group, but with a similar overall position).
They award special trophies for the first 10 male and female positions, this was the first time that I might have had a shot based on my first half position and this years competition.
Disappointed, to say the least, but mostly, since this race reaffirmed to me that I am not where I need to be in my training program.
I am usually running about 50 miles a week by now ( I am only getting in 4 days a week instead of 5), I am in the low 40's and my overtime will continue until mid November.
Well, I guess I will have to take whatever I can get.
Better luck next time, I suppose.