Manhattan Half -- Race Report

Still awaiting word of Spencer's hijinks in New Orleans.  Today was the Manhattan Half.  I signed up months ago, thinking it made sense . . . This morning when I woke up at 5:30 am, I wasn't so sure.  I have run this race twice in its current configuration, January 2012 (heavy snow) and January 2013 (bitter cold).  This time we got lucky.  Saturday was a snowy slushy day, and tomorrow looks to be a blizzard, but today was mid 30s and turned sunny in the middle of the race.  You couldn't really ask for better weather this time of year.  The bigger problem is that I haven't run anything longer than 8 miles since the Marathon, and none of it fast.  My thought was to just do a long training run.  Of course the crowd always puts an end to the "easy run", but I did resist trying to push it faster than the pack.  I pretty much dialed it in at an 8:30 pace, concentrated on form and ran very consistent splits through 9 miles.  I slowed in mile 10 and 11, and then my phone clicked off, so I don't know what happened.  Subjectively, I stayed with traffic.  Objectively, I probably slowed a bit.  The end result was a slow for me, but fast for now half.  Considering it's January, I'm feeling well positioned for a good Spring .