Watarase Half Marathon

This was to be my fourth official race since I started running last spring, my second HM, and my first time really trying to set a PB. I ran my first HM last year faster than expected at 1:27:51, and think it was at least partly because I really tapered beforehand (probably more than really necessary), so I decided to do a decent taper this time as well with only around 60K the week before and around 30K the week of the race.
For some reason I had it in my head that to get the time I did in my last HM, I had to run a 4:17 pace, but when I sat down to double check a few days before, I was a bit shocked to see how off I was, and how fast I would have to run to beat my old time with any kind of respect.
This did not help with the pre-race jitters and nervous stomach I always get, but fortunately the beautiful weather (and some stomach meds) helped calm me down on the actual day. I planned to just do my best to run with Bob, but had trouble locating him beforehand and headed to the front of the pack. The temperature was great if a little warm, but the breeze was picking up and conditions felt perfect.
I can't say I'm a big fan of doing laps for a race, but it didn't feel that bad. I had one guy in my sights during the first 1.5 laps who I eventually passed, but he stuck right on me, and eventually helped me to kick in the last lap to lose him. My 5k splits were 19:24/19:53/20:04/21:33, overall time of 1:25:08. I'm with Bob on thinking that the last 5K were strange, as I did not feel like I was running much slower, and actually started my kick mid way through that.
Overall, I was happy with how I felt throughout the race. I was paying a lot of attention to how hard people around me seemed to be breathing, while I was able to keep good, steady breathing throughout. I didn't have any cramping or leg pain, but for some reason my Mizuno Wave Universe 3 racing flats, which I have worn in two marathons and for plenty of training, gave me blisters on the outside of both feet (my right foot to the point of a blood blister exploding and getting blood all over my shoe).
Great race for setting PBs, beautiful (if inconvenient) location, and likely to become a very popular race in the coming years for both of those reasons...