America's Finest City Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
San Diego, California
United States
Neil Finn Sports Management, Inc.
73F / 23C
Overcast
 		Total Time = 1h 36m 12s
Overall Rank = 275/7028
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 47/586
Pre-race routine:

Wheat toast and peanut butter when I woke up, two shot blocks over the next 2 hours, and a gel about 35 minutes before the start. Sipped on water up through 30 minutes prior to the start.
Event warmup:

I had next to no warmup which was bad. Had to make a last minute "pit stop", by the time I finished it was nearly start time. Jogged probably less than 400 meters.
Run
  • 1h 36m 12s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 07m 20s  min/mile
Comments:

I'm very frustrated about the cramping. I've only raced this distance once before about 10 years ago and had a similar occurrence. I've had training runs longer than this distance that I haven't cramped, but I feel like my nutrition was adequate for the distance. I may just have been running beyond my current fitness level, I backed off of running in the last month or so due to a foot injury. Just hope I can figure out my issue before my next similar race, and certainly before my 1/2 IM!
What would you do differently?:

Longer, more significant warmup, take my nutrition sooner in the course, slow the first 4-5 miles a little more than I did, possibly take in a little more water. Not cramp up again, need more longer distance training runs.


Post race
Warm down:

Warm-down consisted of me limping around trying to find a race official since I lost my car key during the course :P Did some stretching after my key was found, but otherwise warm-down was minimal.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Calf cramp, mainly my right calf for a good 4 miles, the left calf kicked in the last mile.

Event comments:

Unfortunately I'm letting my experience the last few miles cloud the rest of the race. Overall it was a great race, I PR'ed easily, having only run the distance once prior in my life, considering I did it cramped I should be happy! Great race, I look forward to doing it as part of the Triple Crown next year!




Last updated: 2009-06-18 12:00 AM
Running
01:36:12 | 13.1 miles | 07m 20s  min/mile
Age Group: 47/586
Overall: 275/7028
Performance: Below average
41:41 was my 10K split. 3 mile split was approximately 19:45.
Course: No issues with the course, it starts off almost exclusively downhill for the first 3-4 miles. I continually had to try to back off my goal pace of 6:45 in the first 4-5 miles. It may have led to the cramping later in the course. The running surfaces were pretty even and smooth, good traffic control, a good amount of water points. The last few miles are uphill which weren't too bad but only because my cramps were keeping me at a relatively slow pace. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if I could tackle them at full speed. The course had spectators throughout the course which was very motivating. Overall I enjoyed the course, it was scenic, especially being relatively new to San Diego.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
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? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4