Martian Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Dearborn, Michigan
United States
Running Fit
38F / 3C
Overcast
Total Time = 1h 24m 30s
Overall Rank = 22/1980
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 3/140
Pre-race routine:

Had to get there awfully early because I didn't get to packet pickup the night before. This is about a 35 minute drive from my house. I could have arrived later and still been OK.

Big bowl of oatmeal with raisins. Big cup of coffee. Banana. Gel with caffeine about 20 minutes before race.
Event warmup:

Ran about 1.5 miles pretty easy with a few pickups to about 5K race pace. there was a moderate hill about 1/4 mile from the start that I ran up and back down three times.

Got to the start line with about seven minutes to spare and they announced that the start would be delayed by at least 10 minutes. It was cold and I started to get pretty chilled and was thinking that I was glad I wore tights. I would think differently about two miles in to the race...

Socialized a lot in the start area. Talking to people I realized I was lined up with folks that were planning on running 7:30s to 8:00s. I know I am not quite in peak shape yet but I was going to be faster than that so I started wiggling my way forward.
Run
  • 1h 24m 30s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 06m 27s  min/mile
Comments:

I was planning on taking this easy and just enjoying myself. But that plan never works. Instead, I just fell in to what I hoped was a sustainable pace and tried to find some folks to run with. I eventually ended up running with a guy that was a little bit older than me but he was giving me all I could handle. He obviously knew what he was doing so I just stayed a little behind him and let him pace me.

Interestingly, everyone on the course seemed to know "my" pacemaker. Turns out his name is Doug Kurtis and he has 76 marathon finishes under 2:20 and over 200 marathons under 3:00. At first I was a little ashamed I couldn't outrun an older guy. Now that I know, I am glad to have been able to hang with him.

Course was a little more rolling than I remember. I got too warm about mile 2.5 or so. It rained and sleeted on us a couple times throughout the run.

About mile eight my left calf tightened up significantly and for about a half mile I fantasized about dropping out because of it so I could stop running this hard.... but my ego wouldn't let me do that. No irreparable damage but it was sore for days after the race.

Finished fairly strong. Glad to have this behind me.

I used to dream about running under 1:30 for a half. Now 1:25 is the standard and I am starting to think about what it might take to get to 1:20...... That is going to really hurt!
What would you do differently?:

I think I might have been able to squeeze another :10/mile pace out of this if I had embraced the suffering just a little bit more.

No more blood donations six weeeks before race season. I am recovered, but it hurt my training for several weeks.

I would wear shorts for this race. Even though I was very cold waiting for the start, I was too warm pretty early in to the race.
Post race
Warm down:

Jogged to car (about 3/4 mile). Got in. Drove home. I was really stiff when I got home :)

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Just need to put in a few more miles

Event comments:

Good race/ Well run by the Runnning Fit team.

This is a great course to BQ on for all of you thinking about doing that.




Last updated: 2013-04-27 12:00 AM
Running
01:24:30 | 13.1 miles | 06m 27s  min/mile
Age Group: 3/140
Overall: 22/1980
Performance: Average
Course: Supposed to be an out and back with a slightly different last couple miles but the whole course was rerouted due to flooding
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4