ING Georgia Half-Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Atlanta, Georgia
United States
The ING Georgia Marathon & Half Marathon
58F / 14C
Precipitation
Total Time = 1h 54m 24s
Overall Rank = 1995/10481
Age Group = 45-49M
Age Group Rank = 177/
Pre-race routine:

Up about 4:30AM and had a pretty relaxing morning. Made a smoothie and packed a bag. Did a yoga mini w/o for runners (approx. 10 mins) and headed for the car.
Event warmup:

Really not much warm-up here. It was not too bad out but clearly you could feel the rain coming. We hid out in the CNN center w/ friends until a little bit too close of a move to the corrals.
Run
  • 1h 54m 24s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 08m 44s  min/mile
Comments:

It's been only two weeks since the Snickers Marathon for me so while I had good wind and my HR was good my legs are still not back yet. With that said I felt really good and had a nice strong finish. Ran with Aimster which was great and while we had a very slow start being in Corral H (which is like being in row YY at the Ted) it was ok. We did eventually pick up the pace around the race split and again coming out of the park. In terms of finishing, this was a strong finish for me as usually I'm coming in on fumes for this course. I let it out over the last two miles to see if I could hold an extended fast pace at then end of a race. I was happy to have that go well.
What would you do differently?:

This race was more about recovery and club participation. I had very little expectations on performance so I was happy to be sub 2:00 hrs and finishing strong. Here's the thing about any large race, if you are attempting to PR you have to run from a corral with like or faster times so you don't get bogged down in the crowd. The last three+ miles had a little too much 'dodgeball' going on. This doesn't help with energy management. But in the end, it wasn't what my day was about.
Post race
Warm down:

It's a long freaking walk to get out of the maze here. Would be nice if they allowed you to exit a little earlier.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Just ran the Snickers Albany Marathon two weeks earlier and had a strong race there. I haven't recovered completely yet.

Event comments:

I only rate this race as average because it just can't buy a good weather day. The day before was unbelievable but on race morning, there was ING looking at cold and wet again. But, I continue to run it like I continued to take Calculus in college. It sucked but I needed it to graduate. Whatever that means...




Last updated: 2010-03-22 12:00 AM
Running
01:54:24 | 13.1 miles | 08m 44s  min/mile
Age Group: 177/
Overall: 1995/10481
Performance: Good
First Lap = 9:54 Last Lap = 7:22
Course: This is a challenging 1/2. The first four to five miles are pretty bumpy and it can wear you out if you don't manage it correctly. There is a flat to downhill section through VA Highlands and then a climb out of Piedmont Park into Midtown and back to downtown and finish.
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: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 3