Martian Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

Little more detail on my run yesterday:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/167908009

The Full Marathon was starting at 7:15 and the Half at 8:45. I got up at 5:30 with the goal of getting to the race in time to get parking. I'd laid all my gear out the night before so I didn't miss anything. Made some coffee, ate a protein bar, mixed up a couple electrolyte bottles, and got on my way. Amazing how little traffic there is at 6:00AM on a Saturday.

I arrived around 6:40AM, parked about four blocks from the start. Made my way over and picked up race packet. I milled around looking for Scott and my friend Chris who were both running the full. Saw Scott about 10 minutes before the start of the full and introduced myself. We chatted about MAF, our kids, and our race calendars. First impression is that he is a typical Midwesterner - friendly, solid, salt of the earth - and it doesn't hurt that he’s a UofM alum / fan! The full started and I found the porta potties, returned to my car, got my race belt, etc all set for the race and just chilled for a bit. Eventually made my way back to the start, took a short jog to warm up and re-calibrate my footpod, found the porta-potties AGAIN, spent an inordinate amount of time trying to get mulch out of my shoes and got ready to go. I had been sipping on an electrolyte water and had a gel about 15 minutes to the start. Also had one about 1 hour before start. Got into a starting spot and off we went.

The race started on a narrow street and straight uphill for about 1 tenth of a mile. It was very slow and congested until it turned a corner. The first few miles were urban in the city of Dearborn. Closed course which is always nice. About three miles into race the course transitions onto Hines drive and is like running through a park for the remainder f the race on a two lane road. I sipped on the remainder of my electrolyte water for the first few miles and ditched the empty bottle at the second aid station. Mile markers were great and didn't use auto-lap but hit the lap button at every marker. I'm really excited that I was pretty much dead on at each marker meaning that I ran the lines of the course very good - I came up with 13.12 miles for the race. Not much extra effort/time in running extra distance. The course was rolling hills throughout - I did not expect that. I looked at past runners Garmin Connect files and the course look more flattish. I was lucky in that the wind and rain held off until the second half of the course. The "out" portion was great; the "in" or "back" portion had a fair degree of head winds and a bit of rain. I knew I was running faster than I had planned but was feeling good. Around mile 10 there was a good uphill into an aid station and I walked a bit. I then walked a few more times as I was starting to hit a wall. The last half mile or so I picked it up and pushed trying to pass as many people as possible. I ended with a 1:43:46 (official time gave me a second over my Garmin time - yay!). This is a 4'26" PR on a tougher course. Very happy!

CONCLUSION:

So – I can’t complain about the race. I wish I hadn’t slowed in the last few miles but I still beat the goal pace chart I had created the night before the race. In hindsight I knew I was playing with fire given the hills on the course and the headwind in the last half. I thought I would go for it and see what I could do. I think if I had eased up I would have ended at the same spot with a bit less pain. Probably could have been a bit smoother on nutrition during the race - I didn't sync my 2 gels I ate with available water so a bit hard getting them down (especially the 2nd one at mile 8.25 - first was as mile 4.5). All in all best race I have ever had and hopefully the start of a great season of racing!

Great race - would recommend to anyone.