Mad City Marathon - Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Madison, Wisconsin
United States
Madison Festivals, Inc.
87F / 31C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 59m
Overall Rank = 372/2385
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 41/281
Pre-race routine:

My neighbor picked up my "packet" on Saturday so I just drove up on Sunday morning. Had a blueberry muffin and water on the way to Madtown. Got there so early that I was able to park on a street just off the square. Waited for friends to show up. Saw BunnyT and a bunch of other people I knew from home. Found Michele and waited in line for the P-o-P forever. By the time we got out of line it was time to get in the crowd for the start. Wandered up to about the two hour runners and thought I'd just scan for Michele's hubby Brendon....he was right in front of me. Cool.
Event warmup:

Standing in line.
Run
  • 1h 59m
  • 13.1 miles
  • 09m 05s  min/mile
Comments:

I aked Brendon if I could run with him. He was doing it as a training run. I figured his training pace would be my racing pace and I would hang on as long as I could. When I looked at the map online I didn't think the course was going to be too bad...cuz my memory of the area was oh so crystal clear, HA. I also thought we were going to be running along the bike path on Lake Mendota, but nope, we had to climb Observatory. Whew, that was tough, but we didn't stop. Next big climb was Gorham. That was just a long gradual climb, but a climb none the less. Once that was done it was relatively flat....and HOT. The run along Lake Monona was a scorcher. At the time, I thought that was worse than the hills. Once we got off the path and crossed to the Bay side we were treated with shade and lots of nice people with hoses and sprinklers. Ahhhhhh. Took advantage of each and every one. I felt like I just came off the swim portion of a tri once we hit W. Washington. And there it was, the capitol. Just run to the capitol and you are done. Oh, but wait, we have to climb another hill to get there. This loooonnnnnggggg gradual hill seemed to take forever. I kept looking at my watch and was determined to break two hours. I could reach the top by then. Oh, but wait again, you have to hang a right when you get to the top, run up another incline and take a left to finally find the finish. I am typing this a week later and I am still tired just thinking about it. Finished just under the two hour mark and was thrilled to be done. My pre race plan was a 1:55 with 1:50 being a golden plus. With the heat and humidity that wasn't going to happen. Thanks to Brendon for keeping me going though. It was a tough day.
What would you do differently?:

Not much else I could do. Heat and humidity changed everyone's plans. I am happy with my effort.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked and drank lots of water...and chocolate milk...yum. Went to the last inlcine of the race to cheer on fellow runners and wait for friends.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

HEAT.

Event comments:

I understand that it was hotter than blazes out there, but I had to wait at a couple of water stations for fluid. Other than that, well run. I liked the new course EXCEPT the finish up hill...for about a mile. That sucked.




Last updated: 2010-03-08 12:00 AM
Running
01:59:00 | 13.1 miles | 09m 05s  min/mile
Age Group: 41/281
Overall: 2081/2385
Performance: Good
Course: Hilly, hilly, hilly. My garmin had me over the 13.1 at 13.32.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
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