Houston Aramco Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Houston, Texas
United States
Houston Marathon Committee
40F / 4C
Precipitation
 		Total Time = 1h 42m 55s
Overall Rank = 589/10066
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 41/536
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 3;30 to eat and have time to digest. Drove up to Houston and found an empty parking lot a couple blocks away, with no charge. I was worried about being towed, but my truck was still there later.

I ate a bowl of Raisin Bran.
Event warmup:

Jogged the couple blocks to the George R Brown convention center around 6:00. Huge crowd, but well organized inside. Used one of the 300 port o potties, and debated whether or not to go out to my corral (Corral A cutoff was 6:40). It was cold and raining, and thought about leaving the building closer to the start time. So many people were heading out, so I figured if they could take it, so could I. I put a garbage bag on over my 2 shirts and headed out into the cold windy rain. I wore a hat, glasses, and gloves too.
Run
  • 1h 42m 55s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 07m 52s  min/mile
Comments:

I ran with a long sleeve tech shirt over a short sleeve tech shirt, with a small garbage bag over that. I had a hat and gloves on too. Once the race began, I started out at a 7:55 pace, and was warm enough. I wanted to stay around 8:00/mile until the last 3 miles.

I felt really good, so at 9 miles I kicked it down to the 7:30s. The course turned into the wind so it was a challenge to pick it up, but the course was finally starting to thin out, and a started picking off slower runners ahead.

I stopped for gatorade 3 times, and walked for a few seconds to drink it. I feel it worked perfectly.

I picked up the pace again @ 12 mile mark, and finished with a 7:15 mile. My goal was 1:52:00, and was blowing it our of the water.
What would you do differently?:

I would have picked up the pace sooner, and I think I had it in me to break into the 1:30s.
Post race
Warm down:

I crossed the finish line @ 1:42:55, which turned out to beat my PR from 1998 by one second. I'll take it! I walked around GRB and stretched after the finish.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I had hurt my achilles tendon and couldn't run for the month of November. I dropped from the marathon to the half, and have no regrets.

Event comments:

I had a great time, and think I may train to do the half again next year instead of bumping up to the marathon.




Last updated: 2013-01-13 12:00 AM
Running
01:42:55 | 13.1 miles | 07m 52s  min/mile
Age Group: 41/536
Overall: 589/10066
Performance: Good
Course: The marathon and the Half start one block apart, and join together for the first few miles. Mostly flat with a couple overpasses at the start. Nothing hard.
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5