2023 Half Marathon Time Trial - "Race Report"
I think its becoming a yearly tradition for me to do a time trial the morning of Thanksgiving. Last year I felt like I needed to redeem myself for a poor Portland Marathon performance and I didn't want to spend 40 dollars to do a 5k Turkey Trot fun run. So instead I went out to the Willamette River to run along the bike trail. Its pretty cool this time of year and the trail is generally flat so I find it an ideal time to test my fitness for a significant distance. Last year I did a 13.1 mile loop around the waterfront in a little over 1:46, which was about a 5 minute improvement over a previous PR of 1:52. This year I did much better at the Portland Marathon, but still wanted to test out my half marathon time. The goal this year then was simply to beat last year, with a modest time of 1:45. This signifies running a sub 8 minute mile the entire way, and for some reason represents a psychological barrier for me. When I'm running in the 8 minute range, I already feel l...