Drake Relays On The Roads Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Des Moines, Iowa
United States
Drake Relays
Total Time = 1h 32m 54s
Overall Rank = 81/863
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 11/59
Pre-race routine:

Up earlier than planned thanks to thunder storm. Ate some oatmeal and waited for the babysitter to arrive.
Event warmup:

Jogged from car with Emily to Meredith. Fifteen minutes later, headed to the start line.
Run
  • 1h 32m 54s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 07m 05s  min/mile
Comments:

I went out fast, with first two mile average pace of 6:35 per mile. By the time I hit 4th mile marker, my split was 26:14. This was about 45 seconds faster than I had planned for, but I was feeling ok at that time. Then the pace started falling off as I tightened up. I think I was inadequately hydrated. I made it to mile seven marker at 47:50, still on pace for my goal of a PR, but at that point I knew I'd not have a chance at going sub 90 minute as hoped. I was starting to cramp up and had to back off, eventually doing a couple of short walk/stretch periods. I tried to get better at drinking at the aid stations at this point too. The Clif Shot Bloks seemed helpful, but I think I would have been better off bringing a flavor without caffeine. Gutted it out from miles 10 through the end, and missed a PR by less than a minute.

I wasn't exactly pleased with my race, but I'm not overly disappointed either. It was an extremely pleasant morning for the run.
What would you do differently?:

Train better for hills and focus more on pre-race nutrition and in-race hydration.
Post race
Warm down:

Met Emily at the finish line, much to my surprise, as I thought she should still be out on the course. Turns out, she was feeling bad within the first two miles and wisely decided to run the 8k course instead. Her bout with influenza less than two weeks ago took a lot out of her and she didn't want to injure herself as Dam-to-Dam is coming up in a month and a half. We grabbed some post-race grub and walked half a mile back to the Jeep.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

See above.

Event comments:

I really enjoy running this race each year. I'll likely use it again next year, for the sixth consecutive year, to kick off the racing season.




Last updated: 2009-12-27 12:00 AM
Running
01:32:54 | 13.1 miles | 07m 05s  min/mile
Age Group: 11/59
Overall: 81/863
Performance: Below average
Course:
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Below 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