Mad City Marathon - Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Madison, Wisconsin
United States
Madison Festivals, Inc.
55F / 13C
Overcast
 		Total Time = 1h 44m 27s
Overall Rank = 440/3687
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 342/1503
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 4AM and drove to Madison. Had a banana, uncrustable, and a half a cup of coffee on the way there. Also took an Alleve for my ankle, which has been hurting me for about a month and a half. Once there I nodded off in the parking lot for an hour or so before the race and got myself dressed and ready to go. I have to say, they needed WAAAYYY more port-a-johns there. I'm used to big lines at events, but this was just poorly setup. Off I went to the start line...
Event warmup:

Stretched a little and generally got my mind right before starting off.
Run
  • 1h 44m 27s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 07m 58s  min/mile
Comments:

Run started off well, but my many weeks of skipping runs to baby my ankle really bit me in the ass. I kept up with the 1:40 group until mile 10.5 and just hit a wall. My cardio fitness isn't where it needed to be and I paid for it. Walked/jogged the last few miles and tried to put on a good show at the end. Developed one hell of a blister on my right foot. It was so big it was almost comical. I knew the shoe wasn't tight enough but didn't want to stop...this is what I get.
What would you do differently?:

Prolly spend more time on the elliptical so i didn't lose all the cardio I gained over the winter.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked off, drank my chocolate milk and Endurox then went to breakfast at the blue plate diner with my wife.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Poor discipline when I hurt my ankle and I allowed myself to take time off instead of trying other things without impact. Oh well, not a bad time all things considered.

Event comments:

I think the new race director did well to change the course to a flatter route, but having three start areas, three routes, inadequate port-a-johns, and poorly controlled start made it all feel cut rate. Last year's event felt more polished and enjoyable, despite the hassle of having a different start/ending location.




Last updated: 2009-05-25 12:00 AM
Running
01:44:27 | 13.1 miles | 07m 58s  min/mile
Age Group: 342/1503
Overall: 440/3687
Performance: Average
Course: I liked this year's course better than last year's since they avoided a lot of the nastier hills, but there were still a couple of downhills I could have done without. minor gripes. the only real beef I had was the lack of folks at the water stations. I got into two different water stops where they were either not ready for us or didn't have enough folks there to hand out water to the runners forcing us to either stop completely or go without. I blame the fact that they had three different courses going at once and thinned the volunteer staff out too much.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? No
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? No
Plenty of drinks? No
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 3