Okay so here's the full report from today's half marathon. I though I could PR (1:13:30) and I really thought I could go under 1:13. My plan was start off at 5:35 for the first couple of miles and hopefully that would feel good and I could speed up a little bit. I got in a stress free warmup and besides feeling slightly sluggish everything about pre race was totally normal and good. I was in second place for the first couple of miles and moved into first in the third mile. About 4 miles in a guy (Nick Coury) pulled even with me and we ran together for the next four miles. I was consistently running 5:33-5:35 during this time and it was not easy. The course was a long straight and ever so slightly uphill during this stretch and it really helped to have someone there to push me. We made a u turn back towards downtown Phoenix at 8 miles and Nick pulled away from me here. He built about a 15-20 sec lead and then I kept it there. I was running faster now with the city getting closer and a slight downhill. I ran between 5:25 and 5:30 for the next few miles and by 11 miles I was closing the gap. Also, I was starting to feel stronger and stronger. At about 12 miles I passed Nick and went as hard as I could go the rest of the way. My 13th mile was 5:17 and I was really happy with the finish. I ended up with a winning time of 1:12:25 which was a 1:05 PR. The course was very flat and fast and the weather while warm for November was nice (60 and dry). This is a nice race for me with the marathon just 4 weeks away now. Splits (rounded): 5:35 5:35 5:41 5:23 (something happened w/GPS here but the avg of 3 and 4 is probably right) 5:34 5:34 5:35 5:36 5:25 5:30 5:31 5:28 5:17 53 seconds for .17 5:13 pace 1:12:25 | 