Charlotte RaceFest Half Marthon - RunHalf Marathon


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Charlotte, North Carolina
United States
Race Management Systems, Inc
40F / 4C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 44m 41s
Overall Rank = 207/1511
Age Group = M 30-34
Age Group Rank = 30/121
Pre-race routine:

Same old same old. Bagel thin with peanut butter and honey. Take the dog out. Drive to the race.
Event warmup:

Warm up run the the port-a-potty and back.
Run
  • 1h 44m 41s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 07m 59s  min/mile
Comments:

I went into the race mentally unprepared to have a good run. My legs had been like concrete blocks since my marathon three weeks earlier and my longest run during my recovery was 4 miles. I only ran once during the week leading up to the race. So I had pretty much just convinced myself to go out and finish as best I could. The post marathon funk I was in was just not good. I knew that I would be able to finish but didn't know how much speed I would have.

The race starts and I begin to pick my way through traffic. A lot of traffic. I look at my Garmin after a while and right at a 9:45 pace. But as I got by more people my pace picks up quite a bit and I end up with an 8:03 pace for the first mile. For the next six miles I was running great. I was at 7:46 pace through mile 7 and was feeling pretty good. I was telling myself that I had a chance to PR the race. That that running funk!

Unfortunately for me I had no idea what the course was holding for me in the last part of the race. Mile 8 was a climb for the entire mile and of course my pace fell off down to an 8:16 for the mile. Mile nine was better and I dropped back down to a sub 7:50 pace. Then the wheels came off some with the steepest hill on the course. It took a lot out of me and I ended up struggling through 10 and 11 with an 8:06 and 8:20 pace and the beginning of some calf cramping.

Mile 12 brought some much needed relief to my legs and I got back under an 8 minute pace. At this point I knew I was going to be very close to my PR so I tried to pick it up the best I could. And wouldn't you know they put two really nice climbs in that last mile. The first climb was right a the beginning of the mile for a 1/3 of a mile and the last was to the finish for a 1/3 of a mile. Luckily there was a 1/3 downhill in there. I pushed through the hills and ended up with a 7:52 pace.

Ended up a little less than 1 minute off my PR. But this course was hillier so I'll take it.


What would you do differently?:

Knowing the back half of the course I wouldn't have gone out as fast as I did.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around got a lot of fluids and some nutrition.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I think that my legs still were recovering from the marathon. The calf cramping is not something that is normal for me. I probably could have recovered better from the marathon for this race.

Event comments:

Could use more port-a-potties at the start line.




Last updated: 2009-12-06 12:00 AM
Running
01:44:41 | 13.1 miles | 07m 59s  min/mile
Age Group: 30/121
Overall: 207/1511
Performance: Good
Course: A rolling course around the Southpark area of Charlotte. The course looped around and finished on the same stretch as the start. The first half had some long grades that were fairly fast. The second half had bigger hills and longer climbs.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
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] 5