Richmond SunTrust Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Richmond, Virginia
United States
sportsbackers.org
60F / 16C
Overcast
Total Time = 2h 18m 17s
Overall Rank = 1082/
Age Group = F 45-49
Age Group Rank = 92/
Pre-race routine:

This race has been on my agenda for months. I was really lookng forward to beating my time from the spring half marathon here. Training was going great, until the day I got blinded by headlights at 5 AM and went splat on the side of the road. I think that's the day I tore my hip flexors. My runs after that got progressively worse. Slower....more painful...I finally gave in and saw a sports med doc just a few days before the race. Didn't fun for a week before race day either.

Get up at dawn, coffee...more coffee. Waffles with berries cause Max always tells me to eat blueberry pancakes and he's right about these things (just ask him). Drive into Richmond, try to stay warm. Look for Chuck from swim class cause we're pacing each other. Never found Chuck. But....Kristen and I caught up each other and then Dan found us.



Event warmup:

Some waiting in line for the portapotties...easy stretches....Watching the 8K race take off.
Run
  • 2h 18m 17s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 10m 34s  min/mile
Comments:

Kristen took off fast, I knew with my legs that keeping up with her wasn't in the cards for me. Within a half mile she was long gone. Dan held with me a bit, took off then he must have gotten slowed down when he hit a portapotty cause around mile 2 or 3 he found me.

We kept a pretty consistent 10 min mile going. The hill at mile 3-4 wasn't too bad. It was nice turning into SportsBacker's stadium and that half lap on the track. We got out of the stadium and had wind at our backs. Nice, very nice.

We continued our 10 min/mile pace along. Told each other stories from our work to pass the time. Around mile 6 or 7 I saw my daughter's old teacher from our first year here in VA. It was nice to see Lori out supporting the run. We were 1:05 at the 10k. Felt okay still.

Somewhere around mile 8 or 9 I could feel an enormous blister on the instep of my right foot. It didn't make me feel too good but since the hip flexors had stopped shouting at me it was a new pain to think about.

We pretty much walked the water stops, grabbed gu and drank water at the stops the whole race. I had a few sips of Heed along the way from my bottles too.

By mile 10 my legs were cramping and we were now running into the wind. Somewhere in there Dan grabbed my hand and pulled me along. We ran that way for most of the last few miles. It really helped me. He offered to fireman carry me to the finish but I knew I was finishing on my own power.

We hit mile 12 and I started to find some juice in my legs...not much but some. Mile 13...YAY just 0.1 mile to go. I am really running hard now. Like I want to puke hard. No idea what the HRM said cause it was acting wacky. Crossed the line smiling.
What would you do differently?:

Not fall and tear my hip flexors a month prior to the race!
Post race
Warm down:

Walk around, grabbed a banana and powerade from the food tent. Wandered slowly to my car with some stretching along the way.

An iced bubble bath when I got home.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Torn hip flexors from a fall last month.

Event comments:

I would have loved to beat my time from April, just didn't have it with the injury. Was glad to be able to run the whole race and very thankful for the company of another BT'er! Dan, you really--literally--pulled me through on this one. Thanks!


Profile Album


Last updated: 2008-04-19 12:00 AM
Running
02:18:17 | 13.1 miles | 10m 34s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Course: Richmond's scenic areas with fall colors evreywhere.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
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: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4