Miles 1-4

Similar to how most of my long runs have been going, it took me about a mile to really get my legs loosened up to find my zone. Having just completed my 20-mile training run a week prior, I wasn't too nervous about the half and was just enjoying running in a new city. I'd decided to listen to an old Mitch Hedberg album to start the course so the first four miles flew by relatively quickly as I was able to sort of zone-out listening to the stand-up set.

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Prior to the race, we'd gotten plenty of communication from Rock 'n' Roll about what to expect on race day, but they had also announced a lot of changes for 2018 including more music on-course, and better signage. I hadn't paid much attention to the promise of better signage, but passing the first water station, I was actually surprised at how convenient it was having everything labeled. Stopping for water, Gatorade, or gels was so much less chaotic since you could tell where everything was from 100 yards away.

Miles 5-8

By mile-five I'd found my stride and my legs were feeling strong. I'd missed the adrenaline of race day and was starting to pick up the pace. The comedy album finished and my music kicked in which really got me going. The race might have been one of Rock 'n' Roll's smaller events, but there were plenty of spectators out on the course by this point.

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Raleigh is a pretty hilly course but at the first big hill, there were signs EVERYWHERE offering words of encouragement and some just to make you laugh. I was so focused on reading them all that I hardly noticed the incline. I definitely started to feel the hills later in the race, but early on I appreciated all the distractions.

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This was also the first Rock 'n' Roll race where I tried some of the on-course nutrition. I know it's a huge race day "no-no" to try something new on course but I'd run out of gels the week before the race and forgotten to restock. Like I said, it was easy to spot the aid stations that offered gels so I made one quick pit-stop around the halfway point to give myself a little boost.