3M Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Austin, Texas
United States
3M Half Marathon & Relay
38F / 3C
Total Time = 2h 14m 10s
Overall Rank = 3186/4840
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 287/480
Pre-race routine:

Tried my best to eat two pieces of toast and drank water.
Event warmup:

The race sold out with 6000 people, so I was worried it might be crazy with parking. Arrived at 5:50 and hung out in my car (with the heat on!) until 6:15, was able to park at Dave & Busters without any trouble. Walked about a block to get in the potty line. Headed over to the massive start line, went towards the back (behind the 2:10 pace group). It was about 38 degrees when the race started, 45 at the end. I was really cold pre-race, but luckily my hubby stayed around until I crossed the start line, so I kept a jacket on until then. It took me about 10 minutes to make it to the start line (once the first people started).
Run
  • 2h 14m 10s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 10m 14s  min/mile
Comments:

I was rather nervous about my first half-marathon and had a goal of finishing in 2:24 (11 min pace). The race sold out with 6000 runners, and it was crowded! It took about 10 minutes from start of the race (officially) until I was crossing the start line. The first mile was crowded with lots of weaving in and out. It felt good, but my pace was around 11:15, so I started to pick it up just a little after that. It stayed busy throughout the race, but after about mile 3, it settled in to people running similar paces. Lots of energy throughout the course and tons of great crowd support. In keeping with all the great advice I received, I tried my best to just have fun. I made sure to thank (almost) everyone that was cheering and volunteers that I passed. Before I knew it, I realized I was having fun! I felt really great throughout the race. I had some minor stomach cramps in mile 7, but they passed after a few minutes. My legs felt great. After mile 8, I went ahead and started picking my pace up a little and was excited each time I saw a new mile marker. Then I came to mile 12 and started to feel like I was running out of steam and was glad that the end was near! I think I gave it my all and am really happy with this race. I had originally planned to do a run 20/walk 1 to help break up the race mentally. But, when I hit 20 minutes I realized I was doing okay mentally and kept on running - all the way to the finish line!

Race Highlights:
-The bagpipe player at Mile 1, in full kilt (at 7am in 38 degree weather) with the sun rising.
-The two sections of kids extending their mittened hands for high fives (who could pass that up)
-Running the whole race.
- My husband and daughter cheering for me at the finish line.
Post race
Warm down:

Hobbled around and picked up some food. My legs felt great throughout the race, but as soon as i stopped running the pain set in!

Event comments:

All communication/website were really clear and easy to follow. Could have used more port-a-potties on the course. Luckily, I didn't need to use them, but the lines were long throughout the course.




Last updated: 2011-07-07 12:00 AM
Running
02:14:10 | 13.1 miles | 10m 14s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/480
Overall: 0/4840
Performance: Good
10K - 1:05:49 (10:37 pace)
Course: Mostly flat, some slight downhills. A few very small/gradual uphills.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
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