San Diego Half Marathon 2002 Got a lousy warm up - maybe 5-6 minutes and then I used the first few miles of the race to go out easy and warm up a bit more. I run the first mile easy and the mile marker was about 1/2 way up the first hill. I see that I'm in 6:40 range until I get to the hill so I back off a bit. I end up going through in 6:49, off by 10 seconds but no big deal. I hit two in 13:30 and three in 20:37 and now I'm starting to fall off the plan a bit. I know there are lots of hills coming so I pick up the pace slightly and start to get back the time I lost. I go through 5 in 33:10 (my goal was 33:15). I hit the 1/2 way point in 43:20 (6:36 pace). I hit 10 in 1:05:05 (goal was 1:05:15) and the last 5k in 19:55(goal was 19:00). I finished in 1:25:02. I had to run miles 8 through 13.1 at 6:05 pace to make it. All in all a good race, but I had to really push to make the time. Notes: Goal for miles 1-5 33:15 Actual: 33:10 Goal for miles 5-10 1:05:15 Actual: 1:05:05 Goal for final 5k: 19:00 Actual: 19:58 Final Goal: 1:24:15 Actual: 1:25:02 I negative split the race: First 6.55: 43:20 Second 6.55: 41:40 I was surprised I didn't or couldn't go faster in the last 5k (unless the mile markers were off). I was still passing people all the way back in. It wasn't like I was slowing down. I guess I have plenty of strength and endurance; it's the old speed that is missing. Final Thoughts - great race along the water, hilly course not flat as advertised but thoroughly a challenging course. I am happy with the time for this early in the season. Thanks for reading! Mike Back to Race Reports