Wounded Warrior Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Irving, Texas
United States
Dallas Athletes Racing
70F / 21C
Precipitation
Total Time = 1h 47m 23s
Overall Rank = 156/1767
Age Group = M 40-44
Age Group Rank = 24/160
Pre-race routine:

Didn't get much sleep as I slept around 11:15pm and woke up at a little past 5am. Left the house at 5:40am. Had half a banana. Jogged from parking garage and found the porta-john. At that point, the storm hit and just ended up waiting it out as it was pouring and lightnng/thunder was present. It was announced after about 20 minutes after the original start that the race was delayed an hour so it would start at 7:45am.
Event warmup:

This was a training race so I didn't do much of a warm-up. Besides, it was raining just prior. Just did the race since it was a good cause and it was company sponsored (discounted entry).
Run
  • 1h 47m 23s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 08m 12s  min/mile
Comments:

As this was a training run, I was targeting to run it somewhere around 8:15-8:20/mile pace. I was also expecting warmer weather but it was actually not bad with it being 70F and drizzling/overcast during the race. It proved a bit tough for me to slow it down so much but just tried to enjoy the course, looked around, and kept my mind busy just people-watching. Noticed interesting running gait/form, some worn-out shorts that probably need to get replaced (it was wearing out in the rear and I'm not sure the wearers knew it), etc.

I ran the race by heart-rate, similar to how I do a long-run and kept it in the low 140's for the first 8 miles. I was probably averaging closer to 8:20 at that point. I then picked up the pace closer to my target half-ironman race and went to 8:00/mile pace. At the last half-mile, I went to a 7:00/mile tempo pace and just couldn't resist outsprinting someone trying to pip me at the line. Had some slight groin soreness after the race as that last 50m was an all-out sprint (Garmin had a 4:40 pace for last 1/8th of a mile). Fortunately, it was gone the next day.
What would you do differently?:

Not do an all-out sprint at the end as that was way too risky. Probably good to just get to interval 400m/800m pace which is around 6:00/mile but nothing faster. I wished it was warmer because I wanted to see how my body would react to the heat and what pace/heart rate it would look like.
Post race
Warm down:

Just jogged to parking garage to get my recovery shake then had to go home as I had to work.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

It was a training run so it accomplished it's purpose.

Event comments:

Good 'larger' race but not in the same level as Dallas Marathon or Rock'n'Roll (or even Hot Chocolate) runs but much bigger than a local race. Nice medals and good post-race food/entertainment.




Last updated: 2013-03-25 12:00 AM
Running
01:47:23 | 13.1 miles | 08m 12s  min/mile
Age Group: 24/160
Overall: 156/1767
Performance: Average
Course: Out and back on Campeon Trail. Some areas got flooded with one area needing to have a short detour as it was almost waist-deep in water.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 2
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4