login
 Run
Comments: Starting just outside the park, the first 4 miles trend significantly upward, with a couple of rolling downhills, so there were no issues with starting out slowly enough. Having never run in the park before, I probably could have pushed it harder, but just wasn't sure what the grade and length of the next hill would be, so I just focused on keeping a reasonable, not too aggressive pace. Doing so, though, set me well behind my 2:05:XX goal (9:33 pace). After the park, though, it was a nice flat/slightly downhill straight line to downtown, with a quick detour through Churchill Downs. I was feeling good at 5 miles, took another gel, and decided to strike an aggressive (for me) pace of 8:45-9:00 miles, and just tried to hang on. After Churchill Downs (which was pretty cool), I caught up with the 4:10 marathon pace group, and knew I had made up some significant time, as they had probably crossed the start line a minute or more before me. In hindsight, however, I think maybe they were off their pace a bit. I passed them, but not before I saw the pace leader hand off her marker to some marathoner, and run off into the park next to us, probably to either puke or poop. Poor 4:10'ers. :( I was kind of hoping to catch up with the 4:00 pace group before the split, but it was not to be. Still, I'm very satisfied that I was able to maintain a strong (for me) pace all the way to the finish, not having run more than 10 miles this year, and having taken all of last week off to allow for some recovery. Finished with a kick at the end (that I'm probably paying for today), and finished 18 minutes faster than the only other half marathon I've ever run. A PR!!!!!!!!!!  Post race
Warm down: With no family or friends there, I had no interest in hanging around, so I grabbed a powerade and banana and walked the six blocks back to the garage to cool down. Was a bit stiff, and sore in the calves and quads, but THANKFULLY no knee pain! What limited your ability to perform faster: Just general fitness level, which is steadily improving. Event comments: For me, a great race, and hopefully a good sign of things to come as I work towards my first marathon this fall. Last updated: 2009-09-29 12:00 AM
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
View profile
Add to friends
Go to training log
Go to race log
Send a message
View album
CONNECT WITH FACEBOOK
United States
63F / 17C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 2918/10715
Age Group = M35-39
Age Group Rank = 293/642
Got a reasonable night's sleep and woke up at 4:30 to make the hour drive up to downtown L'ville. Stopped by McD's on the way out of town and grabbed an egg mcmuffin and a coffee.
It rained lightly most of the way up there, and I was worried there might be storms coming through, but thankfully it held off for the most part, during the race.
Pulled off the interstate onto 3rd Street which quickly became deadlocked. Moved nowhere for almost 20 minutes, and I started to worry about making it to the buses on time.
Eventually, though, I was able to turn off and found a nearly deserted parking garage.
A brisk walk to the nearest bus-loading zones, coffee in hand. The buses were running like a charm, and I quickly loaded and was on the way north to Iroquois Park.
Only real complaint for the race . . . not enough port-a-potty's at the start. The lines for each were a good 50 people deep, and it took 25 minutes to get to the front. Thankfully, finished with just enough time to grab a drink of water, take a gel, and squeeze into corral B, about 5 minutes before the start.