Detroit Free Press Half Marathon - Run


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Detroit, Michigan
United States
Detroit Free Press Marathon
41F / 5C
Overcast
Total Time = 1h 38m 2s
Overall Rank = 252/11008
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 35/685
Pre-race routine:

Prelude: I raced this event for the first time in 2008. I've raced it every year since except last year as I recovered from a stress fracture. My first time continued to be my fastest for this course at 1:48:12. I had a break thru last year at the HM distance setting a PR in an early season race of 1:43:45. I pursued a new training plan this past winter from Hanson's but tried to incorporate Swim and Bike training alongside it. This (along with a bad nutrition plan) resulted in a dissapointing HM in April of 1:46:10. Once I decided a HIM didn't fit my work/life schedule this year I decided to focus on the run and see what I could do (Thanks to my mentor group for making this decison clear for me). I didn't adhere 100% to the Hanson plan. It calls for 2 speed/tempo workouts, 2 shorter runs, 1 medium run and 1 long run per week. I focused on the speed, medium and long runs and if I felt I needed a day off because of fitness, work or family fatigue I took it. I was also nursing some shin splints and other minor ailments that convinced me to back off the training a bit in the last few weeks. I think I just listened to my body better than I have in the past. The week before the race I only ran on Thursday and Saturday. Saturday I sprinkled in 4 strider/pick-ups of 30 seconds each.

Race Day Prep: The race was at 7:00AM. I woke up at 4:15AM. Got dressed, brewed a cup of coffee and ate a piece of italian bread toasted with peanut butter. Mixed up a GU electrolyte drink and sipped on that through the morning. I had hydrated well for the last couple days.
Event warmup:

I wore CEP Compression sleeves, shorts, tech t-shirt and throw away cotton gloves. I had arm-warmers and a running hat with me but made a race time decison to go without them. I had a GU with about 20 minutes to go. I always race this event with my brother-in-law as he is the one who convinced me to start racing HMs. We both were in corral B with about 5 minutes to go to the start. His race strategy was described to me as, "go out at 7s and see how I can hang on". Mine was to go out around 8:00 and pick up the pace after a couple miles. My goal time was 1:40:00 with a stretch goal of 1:38:15 (7:30 pace). Temperature was around 40 with winds from the SW at around 10 to 12.

Run
  • 1h 38m 2s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 07m 29s  min/mile
Comments:

The Race: The gun sounded and we were off. Being in the 2nd corral was great as I was able to pick a line and stick to it - really no running around racers all day. During races I hit the lap button every time I see a mile marker...that works when you see the mile markers - as evidenced by my lap times I missed a couple in the first half of the race. My first few miles were faster than I wanted. Mile 4 was much faster than I planned (had a GU at mile 4). I kept thinking anytime now the wheels will start to come off this train - but it didn't happen. I kept forcing myself to slow down to the 7:30 range. The tunnel has usually been the bane of my existence. The tunnel usually gets very hot and humid from the racers. I think being near the start of the racers made a big difference. It didn't feel nearly as bad as I remember in the past. I ran relaxed on the downhill and just focused on getting up the hill without killing the rest of the race. My "Underwater Mile" time was 7:33. The remainder of the race was me fretting if I could keep going to the end. I decided to forgo any more calories and just focused on running. With 3 miles I was getting more confident but really began focusing on the 7:30 pace per mile number. With about 1/2 mile to go I caught up with my brother-in-law. I thought of running 15 feet behind him and then sprinting past him at the end. I decided that was a cheap way to win so I announced myself to him and we ran side by side into the last stretch. He ultimately had a bit more in the tank and out kicked me at the end for trhe victory. No worries - when I saw my finish time on my Garmin (I had not looked at total time once during the run) I was ectstatic. 1:38:02. 10 minute plus PR for the course and 5 minute plus HM PR! Couldn't believe I had that race in me. I think I set 5K, 10K, 15K and HM PRs all on the same day. HOO YAH!

M40-44: 35/685
Males: 211/4094
Overall: 252/11,008

Miles - Time - Pace - Avg HR -
1.0 - 7:46 - 7:46 - 167
2.1 - 16:21 - 7:47 - 178
0.9 - 6:23 - 7:05 - 174
2.0 - 14:51 - 7:25 - 174
1.0 - 7:31 - 7:31 - 172
1.0 - 7:33 - 7:33 - 170
1.0 - 7:14 - 7:14 - 174
1.0 - 7:26 - 7:26 - 174
1.0 - 7:25 - 7:25 - 173
1.0 - 7:30 - 7:30 - 173
1.1 - 8:06 - 7:21 - 177

Post race
Warm down:

Post Race: Grabbed a space blanket, bottle of water and started walking through the post race area. Downed a couple gatorades and a chocolate milk. Through work we had access to the Hard Rock cafe so we went back there and hung for a bit and drank a celebatory beer. Went home, used The Stick on my sore muscles. Ate lunch, mowed the lawn, took my youngest to soocer, made dinner, drank a couple more beers and finished the day off by falling asleep watching the Walking Dead. It was a good day.


Event comments:

Takeaways: (1) Listen to my body; (2) Nutrition - less is more for this distance; (3) Hard, focused and smart work can result in tremendous gains





Last updated: 2013-10-21 12:00 AM
Running
01:38:02 | 13.1 miles | 07m 29s  min/mile
Age Group: 35/685
Overall: 252/11008
Performance: Good
Miles - Time - Pace - Avg HR - 1.0 - 7:46 - 7:46 - 167 2.1 - 16:21 - 7:47 - 178 0.9 - 6:23 - 7:05 - 174 2.0 - 14:51 - 7:25 - 174 1.0 - 7:31 - 7:31 - 172 1.0 - 7:33 - 7:33 - 170 1.0 - 7:14 - 7:14 - 174 1.0 - 7:26 - 7:26 - 174 1.0 - 7:25 - 7:25 - 173 1.0 - 7:30 - 7:30 - 173 1.1 - 8:06 - 7:21 - 177
Course: The race starts off heading West. Then it heads uphill around mile 1.5 to mile 3 (the Ambassador bridge to Canada). Its downhill for mile 4. Flat to uphill from there to mile 8 where you run downhill into the tunnell back to the U.S. The last half of that mile is all uphill as you come out of the tunnel. Its pretty flat from there out to the finish with the exception of a hill around mile 10 (into the wind for a couple miles).
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5