Run
Comments: Had to take off more than a week due to foot injury suffered on Dec 31, so my visions of a 1:32-1:33 got tabled and I honestly thought a PR (sub-1:36:30) might be a stretch. (And then there's the fact that my weight was 3.5 lbs higher than I wanted...) But I went out comfortably at around 1:35 HM pace and decided to see if I could hold that. Answer: Yes. Pretty boring course for anyone who lives in SoCal and sees the beach a lot. Which was fine. Hung with a few "rabbits" along the way...dropped a couple, got dropped by one. Ate one gel each at 4.5 and 9.0 miles. Wanted to get to the turnaround just past mile 8 in under an hour...got there at :58:59...game on. Doing the math, it looked like I might sneak in around 1:35. No pain during last five miles, but definitely running down the gas in the tank. Over the last two miles, I was relying on hanging with a couple people who passed me to eke out the negative splits I needed. End result? New PR by over a minute...breaking my oldest PR at any of the ordinary distances, actually, dating all the way back to December 2008. Nice to pull off at age 51, if I do say so myself. What would you do differently?: Nothing. This was a really well-managed race for me and I really didn't have anything left at the end. Post race
Warm down: Met Liz at the exit from the finish chute and walked around with her. Re-hydrated and nibbled on post-race food. We took a shuttle to near where she'd parked and I was able to get in a good stretch while she retrieved the car. What limited your ability to perform faster: Lost training due to the foot injury. Weighing more than my target race weight. Event comments: Venerable marathon/half marathon. Flat course made for PRs. Lots of surf music on PA speakers along the beach. Ultra-cool surfboard finisher medals. Last updated: 2011-12-08 12:00 AM
|
|
United States
Kinane Events
55F / 13C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 363/14099
Age Group = M 50-54
Age Group Rank = 15/543
Got up at 4am anticipating about an hour drive. Had a Clif Z Bar and string cheese before leaving and another Z Bar when we arrived. Had trouble parking, so Liz dropped me near the expo and went off to park. Got in a nice 0.75 mile jog to the expo parking lot from there.
After jogging to near the start, I got in some good stretching and strides. I've got a nerve injury going on in my left forefoot, but it felt fine. Lined up in first corral (1:40 or better peeps).