Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon - Run


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Virginia Beach, Virginia
United States
Elite Racing
75F / 24C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 37m 10s
Overall Rank = 652/16,217
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 84/1068
Pre-race routine:

Woke up 4:15. Got kids out of bed and hustled them into the car. Ate a plum, banana, Clif bar, drank ~24 oz water.
Event warmup:

Stood in line to pee, stretched my calves.
Run
  • 1h 37m 10s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 07m 25s  min/mile
Comments:

Wow. I really exceeded my expectations. I had made up my mind to run a 1:45 race (8:00/mi pace), but I felt good and my early pace, near 7:30, was at a sustainable HR (low 150's) and there was very little pain in my legs. To finish with a sub 7:30 pace is unbelievable - I couldn't hold that pace for my first 10K of the season, so I've really made a lot of progress. I passed a lot of people and that's always fun - very motivating, like I'm doing something right.
Mile 5 was slower because I walked through a water stop and there was a stretch of 2 lane road where several times I had to wait a long time to get around people. I saw my 7 mile split and felt really good and tried to push a little harder. Mile 8 had a bridge, so that slowed me down, but I was very pleased with my mile splits after that. And I'm downright proud of my final 5K, including a sub 7:00 mile at the end. Looking at the race results, the runners that finished around me had faster 10mi splits, so my final 5K really improved my finishing place.
What would you do differently?:

Start in a lower corral. My first mile was my worst because I had to run around and wait for so many people. I maybe could have paced myself a little quicker early on, but would I have had enough gas in the tank for that final 5K push? Better knowledge of the course would have helped. I was expecting a water station at mile 8, and was going to take a gel before that, but it was at mile 8.5 and we rounded a corner prior to the station and didn't have enough time to take the gel, so I went gel-less the rest of the way.
Post race
Warm down:

Got a bottle of Endurox from Brenda at the finish lie. Drank a free bottle of Amino Vital, ate a Power Bar Protein, walked on the beach a little bit, and then carried my 50lb daughter on my shoulders for 12 blocks to get a DQ blizzard.
Post script - calves were sore and tight Monday and again today, but otherwise very little discomfort.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The number of people in the race, starting too far back.

Event comments:

Race was great, pre-race expo was good. I wish I had been able to take advantage of the post race concerts. Man were there a lot of people! It was very cool to meet fellow BTers Janelle and Jim from Augusta, who are friends of Brenda's cousins from Augusta (small world).




Last updated: 2005-09-06 12:00 AM
Running
01:37:10 | 13.1 miles | 07m 25s  min/mile
Age Group: 84/1068
Overall: 652/16,217
Performance: Good
Mile Split HRavg 1 7:54.3 150 2 7:31.4 152 3 7:25.3 153 4 7:33.8 153 5 7:42.1 156 6 7:33.4 156 7 7:19.7 158 8 7:33.6 157 9 7:27.0 157 10 7:16.5 159 11 7:09.0 161 12 7:03.9 163 13 6:57.2 166 13.1 0:42.5 171
Course: Flat, except for a bridge at mile 3 and mile 8. Course wound its way through VaBeach and finished on the boardwalk. Very nice course.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
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] 4