13.1 Boston - RunHalf Marathon


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Boston, Massachusetts
United States
13.1 Marathon
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 28m 19s
Overall Rank = 1854/2679
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 139/210
Pre-race routine:

Alarm went off at the ungodly hour of 4:20AM, dressed and downstairs to toast a bagel and out the door - i only ate 1/2 the bagel. Last night's shrimp and artichoke risotto was still squarely in my belly so not much room for the bagel! I must have still be sleeping because i forgot to stop for coffee; that or NO ONE WAS OPEN!
Event warmup:

Got to the site at about 5:15; got a great parking spot and walked around sipping my coconut water waiting for whynot-tri Jon. Shortly after he arrived we lined up and he left me in the 10mm coral. There was an amazing anthem (not sure if it was live) then the gun went off right on time and i crossed the mat about 2 minutes later.
Run
  • 2h 28m 19s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 11m 19s  min/mile
Comments:

The first 3 miles were great; good pace, not congested - just right. Saw Jon on his return in mile 4 (and the crazy speed walker guy - so odd but cool, too!) Once i hit the mile 5 marker i knew there was big trouble. I was hot; the water-stations had run out of cups and Gatorade and i still had a LONG way to go. the hills in 5 & 6 are endless but offer a cool view back to the city, i was really happy with my 10K split of 1'02". but then i thought; shit maybe i went too fast... oh well too late! There's a long mile + decline that offered little relief for the hill at 11 which i walked the entire thing - i was COOKED; it's at least a mile long STRAIGHT UP. the rest was just sheer misery to the finish line - walk run fast slow whatever i could to get there. It was on this stretch that i got my first 'pick me up' I cheer people on all the time if i see them falter - i think it helps them and it helps me too... well i sure needed it in that last mile and a sweet girl was passing me as i just gasped and walked; she looked over her shoulder and said 'you can do it' 'we're so close now!' so i had no choice but to pick up the pace and sure enough the finish line was in sight! The saving grace was that i was by no means alone at any time - i kept pace with a really big group throughout the whole race. There was one girl who i swear ran most of it backwards as she looked-out for her friend - so sweet. There was also an older man that rode his bike along side his wife the whole time!
i was psyched to see the way active.com lists results - my pace was only 4 minutes slower than the average female! that would be more impressive if i hadn't remembered that there were a lot of people that walked the entire course... oh well maybe someday i'll be a true middle-of-the-packer ;)
What would you do differently?:

I emailed the race peeps to ask about water on the course and although there were plenty of stations they were NO WHERE near equipped for the amount of people racing; maybe the math was off because each station was hit twice due to the switch backs.... i don't know but i didn't get any Gatorade and i bet that hurt me; i did have gels so maybe not. I was grossly impacted speedwise because you had to either grab a gallon jug yourself or have them pour water into your cupped hands - that created quite the shit show if you know what i mean!
Post race
Warm down:

jon was right there at the finish line so we just wondered around aimlessly until we collapsed in the shade. i was NOT interested in food so i just drank a Mix1 and ate an orange.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

i definitely didn't get the miles in before hand - plain and simple

Event comments:

i hate giving low rating but there were some real rookie mistakes made by a nationwide org. their facebook page was BLASTED after the race. it's a bummer because they have such potential.

I'll do it next year - with my fuel belt attached!


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Last updated: 2010-05-13 12:00 AM
Running
02:28:19 | 13.1 miles | 11m 19s  min/mile
Age Group: 139/210
Overall: 210/2679
Performance:
I am so sad that my heart rate monitor wasn't working; i never adjusted the setting because i like to see pace more than my heartbeat and didnt realize that it never connected to the strap - i just like to see my calorie burn so i know how many Guinness i can consume after ;) Lap 1 9:45 Lap 2 11:05 Lap 3 8:33 Lap 4 10:39 Lap 5 10:49 Lap 6 11:30 Lap 7 11:05 Lap 8 12:14 Lap 9 10:05 Lap 10 14:18 UGH Lap 11 12:54 Lap 12 13:03 Lap 13 13x
Course: HILLS HILLS AND MORE HILLS
Keeping cool Average Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? No
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4